Guns, Aura, Vengeance
by Absol Perfect Disaster
Summary: Since birth, the power of "Life Energy" has remained dormant within me slowly morphing my youth revealing its prowess. I've endured death, defied the physics of the human body as loyal pokemon and allies assist in this epic account.
1. Prologue

AN: No action until the fourth chapter I believe, sorry, but I feel like doing character developing first before anything important happens. Just introductions.

Prologue: New Life Awaits

"Oww…"

Soreness and slight pain throbbed around my arm sparking more groans. Shuffling around I immediately found I was between two layers of soft enveloping fabric. Trying to pry my eyes open I only found difficulty in doing so. Once I managed to open my eyes halfway, I could barely make out the room I was in for it was dimmed out.

"Where… am I? What is… this place?" I asked merely to one present finding I just regained consciousness in a dark, empty room.

I didn't bother doing so again since my throat was very hoarse. I look around and found that I was on a bed that seemed to be handmade and stuffed with stitched patched markings all around the sac. A flame flickering on a candle illuminated the small space I was in. I assumed it was late at night. The walls seemed to be made of wood, leaves, and mud bunched and dried together like an adobe home. Leaves hooked to the ceiling separated the room from the rest of this place. I don't ever remember falling asleep in a room made of mud and wood before, so how did I get here?

I kept scanning around until I found a bowl of soup next to where I lied. That's when I felt my stomach rumble upon catching the fragrant smell. Who knows how long I've gone without a meal. I didn't think about it, so I quickly downed the soup, filling my stomach for the first time in weeks, or even longer, with a decent meal. I pressed the bowl against my lips and emptied all its contents into my mouth to quickly quench my thirst and hunger. I didn't get to notice the taste. I didn't care about it since I just wanted something in my stomach. I then noticed that the bowl was a shell from some kind of melon. Okay, now this was not an ordinary home, but before I could think further, a sharp pain in my stomach caused me to whine out and clench it. As I did clench it, I felt bulges underneath my shirt. I lifted it up to find my whole torso covered in… bandages? I forgot about the pain as I kept feeling around my body, finding that my left arm was also wrapped in the cloth.

I remember the last time I was awake. I had a broken arm and intense, nerve wracking pains around my chest and stomach, which I still don't know how I was still able to walk with those injuries. Now that I really began remembering moments before I slept, how did I even make it through alive? I pressed against my chest and arm. There was little to no pain now with only some tenderness, but how... I even found my body fresh and clean. My short black hair wasn't rough, and my skin wasn't rough and full of scabs; it wasn't even ashy or scratched, it was back to being sun-baked tan instead of grey! Even my black shirt was in a better condition. Who would heal and bathe me? Knowing the fact that no one was here to kill me after the repair job they probably worked hard to complete, I walked out of the room past the draping leaves and into a small hallway. The hall was made of the same material which was also lit by candlelight. I heard a familiar voice chatting with another person down the hallway. The only problem was the second speaker was not a person talking though. One was the high pitched cries of a torchic, which means it must be my pokémon, Celsius.

I walked fast, brimmed with anxiety, but quietly at the same time. Who knows why I'm here. My body still felt weak as I tried to not stumble around. I tried not to show any fear too. I pressed lightly against the dark brown wood flooring feeling like if I were to get caught doing this I'd be in trouble. When I reached the end of the hallway, I was in a larger room. The room only contained some brown stuffed pillows on the ground and a few candles. There I saw a small form of fiery orange feathers that turned out to be Celsius, my torchic whom I've had for most of my life, sitting on one of the pillows. That brought a relieving smile to me, but another pokémon sat across from her. They didn't notice me so I crept out a bit more and took a closer look at the Pokémon to try to recognize its species.

"Blue, black fur around the legs and arms, and yellow fur on its chest. The spikes on the paws… it must be a lucario!" I whispered noisily without noticing my excitement upon seeing a super rare species. That's a powerful and rare pokémon, and it's right there in my sight! I couldn't believe what I was seeing and yet I wanted to see it from the front just to be sure.

The lucario noticed me behind the wall as it turned and glared its intimidating red eyes towards my direction. I started trembling without noticing I was giving it the sign that I was scared. Who knows what those spikes can do to me. I began backing away slowly as it got up until I was against the wall. "P-please don't hurt me… I don't want to get hurt again!" I begged shutting my eyes in the process and feeling tears being forced out. Sure lucario are known to be gentle but others are known to keep their prey alive. I opened my eyes noticing that the lucario was giving off what looked like a small smile. The fighter pokémon was half a foot shorter than I was as he was probably less than four feet. I glanced at it for a few seconds until it started talking.

"You must be Rayn as your friend here has informed me," the lucario paused his very deep tone gesturing towards Celsius, "I'm glad you finally woke up. Celsius has been telling me a lot about you."

"You can talk… so cool, but what're you gonna do to me?" I quickly asked still in fright wiping my tears away. Wait, if Celsius was just talking to this pokémon than why would the lucario hurt me if my own pokémon was just sitting next to the majestic creature unharmed? The lucario gave me a weird look. "Oh sorry," I apologized relaxing my body knowing I should be safe, "I just get very excited when it comes to pokémon. I have never seen a lucario before and let alone talked to one. I thought you were going to eat me, hehe." I looked around the room before asking, "May I ask where I am?"

"You are in a remote village far from any human route inhabited only by pokémon. This is my home. This village is safe unlike the area where I found you unconscious."

"Wow you speak really well for a pokémon… I've never seen a pokémon talk before…"

"So do you for a child, and I've never seen a young anything talk like a fully matured adult. Very impressive."

That caught me well off guard as an intelligent species complemented me on that. "Thank you…I guess I seem to get that a lot. So you're the one who healed me from my injuries and sickness? Heh, sorry for misjudging you, it actually feels like an honor to be healed by you, thank you." I bowed to show my gratitude to the lucario but started stumbling over a bit catching myself before I fell all the way.

"Whoa! Careful, you still haven't fully healed yet. Have a seat," he gestured sitting back down as well.

I walked over to one of the pillows. I did feel pretty dizzy. Celsius sprinted towards me, and started nuzzling my arm excitedly after I sat on the cushion. Her dark grey eyes were glistening as I saw and heard her joyous cries from seeing me well healed. I picked her up and placed her on my lap petting her head.

"I actually didn't heal you; I just brought you here after finding your body in the forest near that city. What do you call it… Rustborow?" I nodded as I did remember that was the last place I was in before I passed out. "The pokémon that healed you is a good friend of mine. If you should thank anyone, thank her, but she isn't in the village right now."

"Who is she?"

"Gardevoir, she used her powers to heal you."

"And a gardevoir helped me out too!" I yelled in complete amazement, almost fainting upon hearing it.

"Yes," the lucario chuckled, "She healed you almost as good as new."

I looked down at Celsius and then embraced her. "I'm so glad I'm alive to see you okay," I yelled in joy. The lucario began to look very pleased at us with a smile around its muzzle, probably happy to see a human showing a lot of affection towards a pokémon.

"You and Celsius must have gone through a lot together to have such a tight bond."

"Yeah, she's very special to me since she was hatched a year after my birth on the same exact birth date, but she's also very special to me because of how good she's at in battles." I know I wasn't old enough to start a journey, so I just battled a few friends if they had any pokémon as pets and even participated in the little leagues practicing as a pokémon trainer for a season. Celsius, knowing that her species is extremely hard to find in the wild and are mostly found with breeders that work for the league, her egg was given to my dad by a breeder and then he gave the egg to me on my first birthday, or so I was told before.

After I finished my statement all three of us heard someone knocking on the wall next to the exit and entrance of the home. Lucario let in the guest as I waited in the room with Celsius still in my arms. I then saw a gardevoir walk in. Wow, two rare pokémon in five minutes…This must've been the same gardevoir that the lucario was talking about as I saw she was a female from her physique; not that all gardevoir look feminine but males lack that bust females have on the chest. She glanced at me with beautiful red sparkling eyes. She was very stunning being a gardevoir which is a species that resembles a beautiful woman. She looked as if she was levitating in the air, but it was actually her long white slender legs behind that gown.

"You must be Gardevoir! Thank you so much for healing me." I also bowed to her without hesitation. Afterwards, I felt a very distinct feeling in my head.

"There's no need to bow. I couldn't stand someone innocent like you to be hurt. I'm glad that you are feeling better. I came to check on your condition." Did she just use telepathy to speak to me! I never knew telepathic voices had various voice pitches like people do. Her tone sounded very sweet almost sounding motherly. She then started to speak through my head again. "All your questions will be answered in the morning. Right now you should rest more since I see that you are still exhausted, and it's also late. I'll be seeing you tomorrow." She began walking out of the home before saying telepathically again for everyone present to hear, "Good night Lucario. Night Celsius."

A thought came to me after she left. I looked at the lucario to see that it didn't have any bulges on its upper chest fur nor had a "hour glass" figure like most fully evolved females would have which confirmed him to be male. "Is she your mate?" I asked.

"Oh n-no… she's just a friend," he answered rapidly before looking away and facing down. Heh, I could've sworn lucario are supposed to have blue faces, not red. After a few more seconds he spoke up, "Anyways, she's right, you should head back and rest now. Besides there are a few more problems with your body that should be fixed," the lucario recommended giving off a yawn.

I nodded then went back to the room I awoke in. Celsius came in and joined me this time. I carried her small orange body up to the bed since she;s probably been pretty worried about me this whole time. She slept near my side for the night. She and I had been through a lot this past week. I just hope she can tolerate it. I blew out the candle and later fell asleep with Celsius in my arms.

**(Deep Cognitive State)**

"What is this? Now where am I?" My vision looked blurry and clouded. I was looking at my surroundings, and then looking down, I saw myself in a torchic's body… A torchic's body! Am I looking through Celsius' eyes, or just a random torchic's! This has to be another dream, or as usual, another nightmare!

I saw yellow streaks flying through the air and striking the trees around me which blasted splinters and chunks of wood around my present surroundings. I could hear gunfire from all directions burning my ears. I looked onward and saw a giant house nearly engulfed in flames. I immediately recognized the areas not blocked by the smoke. Th- That's the estate I lived in! That means this is when my family was… massacred, and it's through Celsius' point of view this time!

The estate was far from the location I was in right now as black smoke soared above the building several hundred feet up. The fire illuminated the vegetation all around me in a sea of blazing orange. I heard screaming everywhere followed by gunshots! I couldn't control where this body went as I wanted to run but couldn't. All I could control was where I looked. The night was a hellish sight as there was ash and flaming debris scattered all over suffocating the grass around my spot. This must be how Celsius saw the disaster.

But one thing I saw through these eyes was a small kid down the view of Celsius. The boy seemed to have been enveloped entirely by a blue and red formation of some kind of smog. In front of him was a man which looked like one of the killers wearing a suit and carrying an M16 assault rifle. The smog flowed from the kid's lower body and down his whole arm past a finger which shaped the smog outward almost into a winding appendage which wrapped around the gunman's whole body. The tentacle-like smog coming from the single finger and thickening into the girth of his arm snaked up lifting the man without the kid's arm even moving as more of those tentacles formed out of the kid's back enveloping his whole torso and arm with the appendage in the haze. Eight tentacles sprouted out of his back hitting the ground and propping him up until he was several feet off the ground and leveled with the man struggling in front of him, making the boy look like an eight legged ariados. What the hell… is he some kind of pokémon or a monster! The murderer was struggling to break free from the boy's grasp.

He dropped his gun as the smog began flowing into his mouth! Then more of the blue haze was coming out of the gunman's mouth and running down the kid's arms in waves like as if he was literally sucking the life out of him as he screamed in blood curdling pain and agony. Why would that boy feed that guy that blue smog but then have it come back out in higher quantities and wrap around the boy's body? That doesn't make sense.

The blue smog flowing into his mouth was disintegrating his insides! Steam began to flow from the guy's chest before something dark oozed then erupted out of his chest area. The dark substance landed next to the body I was in. It was blood… His chest was melting away opening up to reveal what lied inside. I saw his ribs being revealed which were covered in crimson. Something purple and throbbing was behind his rib cage. That's where I saw through his ribs that smog tentacle was still inside the man's body as now his stomach was emitting steam before being melted open leaving strings of pinkish red intestines dangling out and dripping blood onto the grass below him. What was even more stomach turning was that the man was still alive as I saw his hands trying to grasp the tentacle wrapped around his body. He began coughing out blood past the intruding appendage and I could even hear him wheezing as his lungs were melting away shooting more blood out.

After the boy stopped forcing that blue haze back out of the gunman's mouth, he dropped him to the ground in a heaping puddle of blood and disintegrating organs. His body looked decayed as if the gunman has been dead for months! The skin was grey and wrinkled and the bones were sticking out, but there was no more blood pouring out. Then once the blue glowing tentacles on the kid's back set him back on the ground, a blue shockwave came from the kid's feet, flowed across the ground, and completely disintegrated the decayed body. That wave literally wiped that body off the face of the Earth into dust, but it didn't affect Celsius at all when it passed her feet since I was still standing unharmed in the dream. I was still in the view of Celsius as the boy turned around using the blue tentacles as legs. He gazed at me for a moment; at Celsius. I saw his face and his body within the blue haze and what I saw completely sickened me. That boy was me!

How could it be me? I don't even remember any of this happening at all when I was escaping that massacre. I just tortured a man to death. This has to be a lie. It's just a nightmare, a vision! It can't be true! Since that thing was looking at me, I could see that the smog around it turned dark red and the eyes were a demonic yellow color. The vision started becoming blurry where I looked down and saw droplets of water fall below me. Even the body I was in began to tremble as my whole vision turned watery.

**(Full Awareness)**

"Whoa! What the," I gasped as I looked around my surroundings, "A dream… just a dream," I panted sitting up on the bed. Sweat and tears was dripping from my face. I started shaking from the fear of that nightmare once it registered. I've been having similar nightmares about that night for a week, but this is the worst by far.

"Is that what Celsius saw when our family was massacred by those people? Was that me killing that man? It was me, but that's impossible, I don't remember doing that!"

I started to cry once it sunk in. I was so confused; I don't know what came over me or even remember myself turning into th…that thing! I felt like throwing up after seeing it. "Mom… Dad…Lithium…" I kept crying for another few minutes. I remember what happened that night.

I miss my whole family, especially my mom, dad, and Lithium, who was my growlithe. But they are all gone now. Hopefully Arceus lifted all their souls to a better place. I tried to think of something else so that I wouldn't remember that night. I just started thinking of Lucario and Gardevoir. There is probably more pokémon in this village too.

It was morning after I awoke from that nightmare. The sun illuminated the green leaves into a light vibrant glow that made the house. Celsius was still asleep lying next to me on the pillow. After I stopped crying, I got out of bed, but I still couldn't help myself from not thinking about that dream.

"What was that cloud that was surrounding me, and what did I take out of that person's body that killed him?" I then started to chuckle. "If that was me, then I did kill a man that was part of the slaughter," I laughed as I found out that he does deserve that pain and suffering. I cackled louder and harder as I thought of all of those men with guns and suits dying in that fashion right in front of my eyes. I then felt sick to my stomach as I just had that sick thought. That's not me. I shouldn't be thinking of thoughts like that, but then again… maybe I should. Does anyone deserve to die like that? Is melting someone from the inside out a right way to serve justice for killing my family? He was only one out of several dozens of those killers that night who stormed the property.  
When I walked into the room that Lucario, Celsius, and I were in last night, which looked like the living room, I heard Lucario's tone from outside. It sounded like he was breathing out heavily and grunting as I heard odd sounds of flames or gas bursting in volume. When I walked outside, I saw that he was thrusting his arms toward the air. I guess he must be training himself. It felt good out here since it was a warm temperature. The breeze cooled my face which caused my sweat to evaporate. The sun was barely high showing an early morning, but I don't know the approximate time. Tall pine trees surrounded the area. This place is deep in the forest somewhere. There were more homes made from pokémon, others bigger and smaller than others. This took my mind off the dream as I began to admire the architecture around here counting the number of homes knowing that this place must have a lot of pokémon; awesome!

I looked at the lucario noticing that whenever he punched the air, that same blue smog I saw in my nightmare was discharging from his arms which created that bursting sound. I then remembered the discharge that lucario give away is actually aura or "life energy".

"That stuff surrounding me was aura! How? I thought there are barely anymore humans that can use that power. If that was me, then what the hell did I do?" I thought to myself as I observed the lucario thrusting his arms and legs outward. If that is aura then what I did to that man in the dream makes sense. I used aura to snake its way in that guy's mouth and suck more life energy out which would benefit me.

He stopped to get a breather, then without turning around he asked, "Why are you up so early? I expected you to sleep pass noon since your body is too weak."

"I uh… had something on my mind, and I actually feel fine," I answered back. He should know a lot about aura so maybe he can give me answers.

"Yes, I felt a disturbance from your body when I was out here. I assume the thoughts are about that night. Isn't that why you got hurt so badly?" I nodded, he was right about everything. "You must be pretty strong to be up this early after your injuries. I'll make a meal suitable for you in a few minutes." He then continued on with his training after the breather he got. "Oh, I'm greatly sorry about what happened to you. What those people did your family is completely absurd. I actually know how you feel but you probably got it worse than me, so if you ever need to talk about it then talk to me or Gardevoir. Just try to focus on other things please."

"Thank you for your sympathy. I… it's really hard trying to forget about that night. I'm gonna go inside." I turned around but then remembered the question I wanted to ask. "Wait, uh… is it possible for humans to use aura anymore?"

"Yes, but now it's more difficult for a human to learn aura. For an average human it could take many years to master, unless if you're born with it, but that's rare because the whole Aura Guardian Lineage suffered a genocide over 150 years ago."

"Really," I marveled recognizing the Aura Guardian group and learning about that event off of T.V., "Where did you hear that?"

"We lucario pass this story down from generation to generation. We were part of the Aura Guardians and aided them at all times until a very dark age descended upon our kind, which is why lucario are so rare these days."

"These days… interesting. So you're saying that there used to be much more lucario back then and more Aura Guardians?" I asked now getting off topic of what I really wanted to learn.

"Oh absolutely, our numbers declined centuries ago. However, lucario were as common as mightyena, but may I ask what perked your curiosity?"

"Uh… nothing, just curious. Thank you." I looked at the lucario who froze with an odd look as his eyes gaped towards me. It seemed like he had just seen a ghost type. "You okay?"

"I just witnessed something odd about your aura. N-nothing serious, don't worry."

I went back inside to rest in the living room. I knew pokémon were intelligent, but I didn't know they were so intelligent to make their homes look just like human homes. I know lucario are super intelligent. This lucario even knows what happened to me but that's probably from his powers.

Later Lucario was using a very large wet leaf to hang over a controlled fire made from sticks and twigs surrounded in adobe, making it look like an oven. He cracked open a few eggs and spread them on the leaf. This also amazed me. Pokémon using natural tools to cook. After he was done cooking Celsius walked into the living room with another pokémon. A riolu came out but soon looked very frightened to see me, no surprise since these pokémon probably don't see humans every day. Heck, I bet they look at humans as demons. Its eyes were full of alarm. I wanted to try and be friendly with the small pokémon.

"Hi, I'm Rayn," I introduced myself to the riolu.

When I put out my hand to shake with the riolu's paw it flinched stepping away from me. She went and crept against the wall as she just weaved around me. After she did, she ran to Lucario and then began tearing up while holding his paw.

"She's just a little scared. Don't mind her," Lucario explained while comforting her.

"Aww, cute little riolu. Is she your daughter?" I guess the lucario doesn't live here alone.

"Yes, she is a little frightened because she and I went through a hard time due to… well… other humans…not to offend you of course."

My heart sank from hearing that, not from what lucario thought as an insult but because it was people who had hurt these pokémon. I know for a fact that in this world there is so much neglect towards pokémon and normally only pokémon trainers and some kind people respect them, but even then there are many stories of trainers doing disturbing things to their pokémon. I've seen it all the time on T.V.

"I'm very sorry to hear that, but if I'm a human then why did you help me?" I questioned.

"Because Gardevoir and I looked through your emotions since we have that power. Apparently you and Celsius almost got killed, and you show love towards pokémon like no other human does. In your past I saw that you let Celsius and your growlithe, Lithium, live just like humans."

"Yeah…just like my grandmother told me many times before: give to others then you receive back. Karma, that's why I feel incredibly lucky to be healed by the rarest pokémon on Earth. I'm lucky to be respected by you two because of the love I show all pokémon."

I find that true since it's rare to find people like me. Like I said, the only people that treat pokémon well are pokémon trainers and very kind hearted people like my mom and dad which may seem like a lot but it is only a fraction of the human population.

After the eggs were done they looked no different from the eggs I ate almost every day with my parents back then. Lucario placed the leaves in front of all three of us. The eggs were scrambled through out the leaf. After he was done setting up the table, he sat down in front of his food. I didn't know how to eat this without silverware, so I just observed Lucario. He just picked up the leaf and put it against his muzzle to eat the eggs off of it or pour it in his mouth. I did the same thing since I didn't care much about the manners; after all he is a pokémon.

"Wow, you know this isn't bad at all!" For using natural tools to cook this tasted surprisingly great.

"Thank you, Gardevoir taught me how to cook. She taught me some of the spices I can find and mix out here. In fact, we're all going to go have dinner at her home tonight." Lucario and Gardevoir do sound like they're close. I bet Lucario doesn't have a mate anymore thanks to some humans.

"Really! So how close are you and Gardevoir?"

"We are… just really good friends. We've been friends for a very long time," he said with that same tone from last night when I asked if they were mates.

"It sounds like you like her."

"Well I don't know about that," he paused and looked away before continuing, "I had a mate that was killed by humans years ago, which is why Riolu is scared of you right now. And the case is the same with Gardevoir. I just don't know if we're ready yet…" Just as I thought, people hunting pokémon for unnecessary reasons. That's just so wrong.

Then my heart sank even more, and I became pretty angry when I heard that Gardevoir had her mate killed also, and by a careless human. Trying to keep my anger to myself, I calmly started apologizing about the fact that there are too much bad people in this world.

"I'm truly sorry to hear that about you two. I wish that there were more people like my mom, dad, and I. I'm guessing if the case is the same with Gardevoir than her offspring will be scared of me?"

"Unfortunately yes, don't worry about it. They should get used to you."

When I looked at Riolu she started to tremble. She could barely even start eating. "It's okay; I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not like the humans you saw before." When I said that, she stopped trembling but only a little. "Please don't be scared of me. I feel bad about this."

"It's ok Riolu. He won't harm us." From the words of her father she started to calm down.

"I would never harm a pokémon. I can't even stand hurting one by accident." Only time a pokémon can get hurt is in nature because it's natural and it would be silly of me to say pokémon can't hurt other pokémon. Sporting events are okay too because those are controlled events.

"I think you love pokémon more than any other human I've ever read through. I'm so happy to see that."

I was extremely happy to have a conversation with Lucario because he's a talking pokémon. I wanted to find out so much more about the lives of everyone here. "Yes, I look at pokémon like as if they were humans, I don't believe in differences even if they can't talk, have fur, feathers, or scales, and just act different because I don't care." I was then curious if wild pokémon gave some kind of nick name. "Oh yeah, I never got your names."

"Oh yes, actually all pokémon are called by the name of their species. All pokémon speak one language no matter the species, so if a human were to turn into a pokémon and there are three riolu standing in front of him or her, they would each be called Riolu. Then the human would be extremely confused, but all pokémon names are distinct by the pitch you say it in. Humans can't tell the difference in the change of pitch since their ears aren't as adapt but pokémon can."

"So your name is Lucario and your daughter's name is Riolu but every pokémon is given a different pitch in their names?"

"Close enough. Just a slight change in pitch you need to do, but I don't think humans can tell the difference to do that."

"This is so amazing!"

After breakfast I went into the living room to just sit down. I didn't know what there was to do around here. My family is gone, but these pokémon sure took great care of me. I just feel so appreciative to be brought to a place like this.

"Sorry there isn't anything entertaining for you around here," Lucario explained as he knew I was a little bored.

"It's okay, actually observing pokémon and their environment is entertaining enough for me," I replied trying to hide my boredom.

"I can look at your aura and tell that you are bored. I know what you can do! How about you go outside and get some fresh air. I read in your aura that you worked out by playing a famous game that humans love so much at your school."

"Yeah I played football, but I think I'll stay in here for today. I don't want to startle the other pokémon."

"That's true. You might scare them a little. I'm very sorry that there isn't really anything for you to do."

"No need to apologize." After Lucario went outside, I dozed off from boredom since I wanted the day to go to night already.

Later that day during the evening, the four of us went to Gardevoir's home to have dinner. I saw a few pokémon outside. They either gave me a cold stare or went inside. I felt like I was being escorted into a prison cell from the vast majority of cool pokémon not liking anything about me. I was the last to walk into Gardevoir's house, but when I did the rooms and hallways were made of the same materials that Lucario built his house with except the ceiling was higher. That's probably because gardevoir are naturally taller than lucario. The aroma of the food was making my stomach growl violently. I actually wonder what kind of spices pokémon use in their food.

At the kitchen, there was a fire with pieces of meat hanging over it. Set on a wooden table were leaves that served as plates in the middle of the room. The table was just large enough to feed five people. We all sat down except for Gardevoir and Lucario as they set up the food. Gardevoir was a very beautiful pokémon. Even a person can get fooled and marry her since she looks just like a women. I decided to help the two set up dinner. When I got up I felt that feeling in my head again from a psychic.

"How are you feeling Rayn?" Gardevoir asked gently.

"I feel great all thanks to you Gardevoir, I don't know how I could ever repay you," I smiled.

"No need to do that. You're a person like I've never seen before. There's isn't anything we need from you."

"Yeah, I'm sorry that humans act like demons towards pokémon, but I'm not like that. I oppose acts like that."

"It's not just pokémon that they hurt. It is themselves as well. I'm truly sorry about what happened to you and Celsius recently."

I helped prepare by setting up more leaves. After the table was set a ralts came into the kitchen. This one was just as scared as Riolu when I first met her. When we looked at each other I decided to introduce myself to attempt to show some friendliness.

"Hi, I'm Rayn." The same exact response came from the Ralts just like when I introduced myself to Riolu.

"She's afraid of people. My mate was killed by one. That whole event gave her that phobia."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Remember not all humans are the same. There are good ones and bad ones," I had to explain this to Ralts to calm her down, but she couldn't even look at me without shaking. I seriously thought she was going to wet herself.

I heard quick, repetitive tapping noises against the wooden flooring before I saw Riolu dash and stand in front of Ralts with her legs shoulder length apart, her arms spread out to shield Ralts, and her sharp, slick teeth being revealed to me as she growled lowly at me.

"Riolu don't!" Lucario scolded from the kitchen area, "Rayn is a good being. Do you see Celsius ever harmed in anyway whenever she's around him, because I don't. So come here and help set up the table!"

I saw Riolu sulk away in defeat towards her father. Ralts seemed to have stuck herself to Riolu's back as they both walked away from me without giving me any eye contact. Boy, I felt so horrible for causing this conflict.

"I think your stomach is back to its original size, so you can eat the dinner I had prepared," Gardevoir told me.

I was pretty amazed at how Gardevoir knew so many medical facts. While we all sat and ate at the table, Ralts was too nervous to eat. I then noticed that there was something different about this ralts. I remember that ralts are suppose to have two red horns, but this one only has one which was found only on the front of her head. I saw part of the back horn which seemed to have been a small, jagged stub instead of a complete curve. I didn't ask about the deformity since it's not a big deal.

"Wow, this is excellent food." It reminded me of home…

There were surprisingly all sorts of different choices to choose from. There was sliced beef, rice, some fruits and vegetables like cabbage and aspear berries, and there was a meat loaf in the middle of the table for everyone to eat. This really did look like the sort of dinner people make.

"Thank you." She had paused for a second before starting to talk again. "So how old are you Rayn? I've never seen a human that was hurt badly for your size."

"I'm… just seven."

"Just seven! Wow I thought you were much older because of your build," she gasped.

"I thought he was much older due to his speech. You're very intelligent and mature, Rayn. It's almost… unusual," Lucario added barely audible to me.

I started to blush heavily from those comments. "Hehe, is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"Bad? That's a very good thing! I never knew it was possible for a child as young as you to be very intelligent," Gardevoir added.

"Thanks, it's just kids from before would call me "nerd" and other insults. As a matter of fact my parents disciplined me greatly. They always said to work hard in school and participate in activities." Even for my age, I had an athletic build which I here from friends and family but it just came from competitive sports. It's not much really. It's just noticeable mainly around my arms and legs, but my chest and abs are still flat. From what I heard, once I hit puberty I'll start developing abs, bigger biceps, and chest.

"I never imagined you to be like this Rayn and recover so early. When we found you two you both were almost starving to death and injured critically," Gardevoir continued.

"So you two know what happened to me because you can read my mind right?"

"Yes, but we can't know the full detail from just looking into your memory. We just see a broad synopsis of what occurred that night," Lucario answered.

I looked down as I remembered what happened to my family. I tried to hold back the tears building in my eyes. Clearly Ralts could sense my emotion since she was looking at me for the first time. "It sucks. What they did was wrong and I don't know why they did it. Do you want to know what really happened to us?"

"You don't have to tell if it hurts," Gardevoir countered.

"No, you guys healed us back to life. I- It's only fair that you know what happened. I'll explain but… it's a long depressing story," I almost struggled talking as tears were really building up.

Even Ralts and Riolu were wondering why I had just changed from happiness, to sadness.

To Be Continued


	2. Chapter 1

AN: My fellow perverted readers, what can I say. I'm a different kind of author with different talents, so this story is mostly plot orientated to fit the epic needs. This is very true for the very beginning of this series especially. The first sex scene won't appear until Chapter 11 which is just a teaser because I'm jacked up like that, sorries to all, and the ultimate sex scene won't appear until Chapter 15 which I pervertedly designed to pay all that are waiting. That's a lot of reading just to fap right, so basically if you've come here then only look forward to a plot filled story for now and the next 200,000 words. If you want to fap go read something else because there are many authors here who can write about sex a lot better than me and come back after your third or tenth release. However, if you want to fap to what I write because you're curious about my inexperienced, flaccid abilities then don't worry because I have a lot of one shots in mind and already planned out ready to be written. Anyways, welcome to the modern epic:

Chapter 1: Stories of Hardship

What is the true meaning and logic of justice? Was it created by sentient beings or is it part of the natural spectrum of life? Such a controversial question this can be. On a sense, justice is giving someone that has resisted moral ethics what they deserve. During the renaissance era people saw justice as ending ones life by the worst, unimaginable ways. Not bowing your head in front of the queen in an honorable way would demand justice which was your head. Did someone deserve his being cut off for not bowing? Is that immoral? Now, is full life imprisonment acceptable punishment for a murderer? Or, is that even enough punishment. I've thought deeply about these questions many times that I almost lost all sense of right and wrong. Fairness is another sense, so I believe for retributive justice that it is only fair that the murderers get murdered. Present day people demand justice all the time for kidnappings, rape, and murder. It is natural for the human mind to demand for that offender to be punished severely. Most of the time we feel like that person should just be sentenced to death and others wish they did the punishment with their own hands, but morality prevents suck atrocities. War has sprouted from the demand of justice. Pacifists see that there is no need for violence because punishment through more violence is hypocritical. When someone wants justice violence is already foreseen. Sometimes someone must die in order for that justice to be served to prevent further crime. Killing one evil ensures a safe future for countless innocent beings. Some still believe the offender should pay severely with their lives, it's only fair, but most victims are not powerful enough to make that call, and if the case was pure brutal murder then the death penalty is ensured. I want justice to be served to the people that have wronged my life, and I want all of them to be punished severely. And I want to do it with my own hands; I think I deserve to give the murderers what they deserve.

From what I remembered, I almost died, but I was saved by four friendly pokémon… well two of them are too afraid to communicate, and I should add that they are all greatly rare making me really appreciate the turn of events. The other two already know the basic story of how I ended up left for dead, so for saving my life Celsius and I will get them in tuned, but after we explain the events that led to our tragic moment, a turn of events will change our lives forever and it will affect all six of us and eventually countless others. Overtime I will develop powers and I will be taught how to use them properly. These powers that I will soon discover were actually in me since the day I was born remarkably giving me the greatest advantage among human beings. Before I met these pokémon I actually used it… twice. One time, if my recent horrific vision is correct, I used it to kill a murderer, and the second time; I actually didn't know I was even using it. I'll give you a hint on the second time I used it. The hint is that I'm still alive right now. Can a seven year old boy really cope with blood curdling injuries and starvation for nearly two weeks? No, but I'm not a normal child am I? The power keeps me alive as an autonomic reaction. Here's an example, I killed a person for the first time when I was just seven and I got a bullet in me when I was only eight; absurd right! Can a ten year old look like a teenager? Can a younger kid talk and act like an adult? Hell no; I'm not a normal child! These powers will keep me alive enabling me to survive events that not even an adult can handle well. And how do I manage to stay alive for the next several years of absolute hardship. It's simple: it's Life Energy, and I will use it to bring justice to the ones who murdered my family as the ultimate Power of the Wave…

**(The Present)**

Black flashbacks rooted in my thoughts. They were like bullets of images that ricocheted around my head. For the past few days I had tried so hard to forget about my lost. From the times my life was building to the time it crumbled... Gardevoir and Lucario and even Riolu and Ralts were waiting with anticipation for me to begin. I finally put my head up clearing my throat.

"So you both already know what happened…" I had started, with a pause towards the mature pokémon, "I was critically injured because my whole family was… killed, massacred. And I absolutely mean my entire family. I really think… I'm the only one left," I explained in a shaky tone. My statement got shocked expressions from Riolu and Ralts evident by the big eyes visible though Ralts' light green fur draping down her face. I asked barely perceptibly, "How long have I been here in this village?"

"F-four days," stuttered Riolu in a high pitched reply.

I was guessing that Riolu started talking to me because I just mentioned my family getting killed. I guess she's feeling some sympathy towards me. "So my whole family was slaughtered over a week ago. Every last one of my family members… gone. Parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, and other family relatives from different cities and regions are all dead as we were all in one spot. I am the last of the Excal bloodline, which is my family name. I'm still amazed that Celsius and I made it out alive, and I don't even know how." I stated what happened to all of my blood relatives as calm as I could without breaking down into tears since I was pretty close to doing so. Everyone was dead silent. I could look at all of their expressions and see a blend of sadness, amazement, anxiousness, worry, and biggest of all interest. Like a horror film. "The people that had killed all of my loved ones were men dressed in black suits and all of them wore a purple tie or had a piece of purple somewhere on them. I recognized that color and their dress style. My father would always tell stories about his job and these men are in most of his stories. They are part of a notorious organization called the Mafia, and the reason I know that is because my dad was part of a team that stops major criminal organizations like the Mafia or Yakuza," I resumed, "The Mafia is a huge major criminal organization that deals with lots of bad stuff. They mainly dress in suits which long ago gave them the nickname "gangster". My dad worked every day to stop them."

"What did your father do?" Lucario questioned.

"He was a sergeant of a squad for a large combat unit called S.W.A.T", I declared, "They deal with mainly human based threats. There is also another organization that deals with human and pokémon based threats according to my dad. I even remember him wanting to join, but he never became… good enough, I guess, even though he lead a whole squad. I don't know what they're called since they are very secretive and carry the most elite soldiers in their roster, but those were the ones that help the pokémon so I admire them hoping they really exist. That organization deals with other criminal organizations like "Team Rocket" which is worse than the Mafia because they do deadly experiments on pokémon which is also why he wanted to join badly so he can 'lead a cause'."

"Is SWAT the men and women that wear large armor and carry those long metal rods that make that loud noise?" Gardevoir hypothesized. It sounded like she somewhat knew what SWAT does.

"Yes, they help get rid of very dangerous criminals," I answered with the same low tone.

"Your father must have been very successful for helping innocent lives."

"Yes… he was very wealthy but not just because of SWAT. SWAT and bad people carried these 'long metal rods' that made very loud noises which launches an object that can kill if you're hit by it. That is called a gun which shoots out a bullet and humans use it to either defend or kill. My dad actually trusted me enough to practice using guns a few times with him since I thought they were interesting, and not because of how deadly they are but because of how they worked which is rare for my age. Don't worry I'm not like those psychos that kill people."

Everyone's eyes grew wide except for Lucario's oddly. Riolu and Ralts gave an almost angry glare. I guess they know that a gun killed their loved ones, but I suspected it. Riolu and Ralts must be angry and scared of me since I know how to use fire arms, but I never killed anyone with them.

"But what really made my dad so wealthy was that he was the owner of a very popular combat weapons company. It was called 'E Caliber Industries' or E Cal. for short, which makes weapons for the military and civilians. My mom helped by presenting new designs in meetings. It's pretty funny since they designed objects that can end lives but save some at the same time. But they weren't bad people." Everyone was still fixed in to my story. Celsius already knew what I was about to say. After all she was there. "Sorry, I didn't mean to go off track. Anyway, since he is the owner, he threw a giant party to celebrate the anniversary of when he opened the company. The party was at our estate in Rustborow, and he invited every single member of the family to attend the party and of course CEO's and presidents of other friendly companies, and unfortunately they all came. The Estate I lived in was large and luxurious enough to throw a large party from the inside and out. It was far from the city on a hill side in the forests bordering the northwest side of Rustborow. The back yard was extremely huge that included the whole forest around us which was where those men came in from. Somehow the Mafia knew that my dad was throwing a family party, so they attacked around evening… I still don't know why they attacked us. I was inside my room when I started hearing screaming and loud bangs that scared me. I was starting to panic since I was scared out of my life from the deafening noises. I got the courage to carefully look out of the window to find men coming out of the surrounding forest with guns where my family members ran away from them. I was scared, no doubt about it, but all I could really think of was where my parents were because I didn't know what to do. I went to go and find my dad. The hall ways didn't help my search at all because the big estate was like a maze, and I was constantly scared that the men would come in."

Every one in the dining room was open ears to my story. Expressions were full of fear and sadness. It was like telling ghost stories at a camping trip. I finally got to the scary part. The pokémon were so anxiously waiting to hear what happened next.

"My dad was no where to be found. I then decided to look for Lithium, which was my growlithe, and Celsius. I found Celsius hiding in the kitchen pantry. She was shaking violently from all the commotion. I picked her up and carried her with me to find Lithium. While searching for Lithium, I remember Celsius passing out in my arms from the screaming and thunderous noise of gunshots which got me scared too."

Everyone wore shocked expressions except Lucario for some reason. He even had his eyes pressed and sharpened as I told the story which got me uncomfortable. "Hmm…very astounding. You don't have to continue if you don't-"

"No, no. I…I think I should just get this off my chest," I quickly reassured Lucario. "I finally found my dad. He was carrying a gun and preparing himself to fight the bad men. I was afraid of him going out there to fight off a whole army but he was the most capable. I started asking him where Lithium was, but he just told me that he'll find him and bring him to me, and then he told me to escape through the underground wind tunnel which is just a giant tunnel under our estate used for his company. Since it was underground he told me to escape from the emergency hatch which would put me deep in the forest. I wouldn't leave without Lithium…I really didn't want to leave without anyone, but with the most serious sounding voice I have ever heard from him… he told me to leave and that he would promise that he would bring Lithium back alive. Before I left he gave me some body armor for me to wear to help me escape." I started remembering my dad's face when he ordered me to escape. It was very intimidating from his dark brown eyes to his frowning. I never saw him like that before. He cared for my safety and not his which is what any good father should do, so he knew he was going to die to protect me. "I have no idea why they killed everyone!" I suddenly erupted in explosive anger pounding the table which startled everyone, especially Riolu and Ralts. "I'm guessing the Mafia killed my family because of all the things my dad did to stop them before. Well they deserved it for killing people, but they didn't have to kill everyone that had to do with my dad! As a matter of fact they shouldn't have killed him in the first place! Why!" Seeing everyone around the table startled by my actions including my own pokémon I just sat down exhaling forcefully before getting back to the story. "Well my dad never came back alive! No one was alive!" I spoke those words in such a low tone as felt some tears escape me. "I swear… the bad guys are going to pay for this. I wish they were all dead! All of them!" I shouted all of my anger out further freezing about everyone in the room except Lucario.

"Your aura is getting massive with energy of hatred," Lucario began calmly, "You're truly too young for that kind of thought Rayn…"

I looked at from across the wooden table. I took deep breaths to calm my nerves down. Every one around me looked intimidated by my yelling. I probably scared Riolu and Ralts very harshly. "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to yell like that. I'm just a little… mad right now. I never felt anything like this before." I leaned forward with my face concealed by my palms as I sat there for a bit recovering from my outburst. "That armor…the one I escaped in is actually very special and is like no other armor ever created," I voiced softly. I needed to tell them about the armor my dad gave me before I continue on with my story. I think talking about my dad's very first invention should take my mind off the Mafia. "When you found us, Lucario, did you notice that I was wearing a black Jacket underneath all of my clothes?"

"Yes, your whole body including your limbs was covered by the fabric. Do you want me to get it?" he responded.

"Please, I need it to continue on with my story."

Lucario went outside of the home to get what I requested for. I think he went through the back of the dining room to the back yard probably.

"Is this it? It was hanging to dry." Lucario walked in with the black item I requested for. Gardevoir must've washed it since it was dirty the last time I wore it.

Lucario handed me the jacket which was unharmed as I easily held up the light pieces. Only a few bullet holes pierced through the black cloth but not the armored material itself which was all that mattered. "This is actually not a jacket. It's the armor my dad gave to me before I entered the tunnel. This was the first thing my dad designed which caused a chain of events that made him successful. Because of this he opened E Cal. Industries. The armor is only an inch or two thick but it's somehow amazingly twenty times more powerful than the armor that was used before which was Kevlar. He said it can stop many sizes of bullets multiple times without any penetration and there's not much pain when getting hit by one. It's made of a newly discovered substance that's durably solid until bullets fractures the armor. It's like some kind of thick, gel liquid that's solid until broken down by bullets, but the coolest thing about it is that it regenerates back into a clear, light weight layer of armor that molds around the fabric to protect the soldier again. I don't know what the liquid is called, but it is so light and amazingly powerful at the same time. Since it's so thin, I wore it under my clothes and it looks unnoticeable. My dad designed this armor about four years ago. He and his squad was the first to test it in action. It worked great but I think the ones his company made were sold only to special operation soldiers. Apparently this armor does last forever. The jacket was shot about 5 times but it still looks good as new. There are also armored sleeves that have the same substance that hook to the armor to protect my arms and legs."

"Very impressive, I thought it was regular clothes since they were so light," Lucario chuckled.

"Yes, my dad designed something that saves lives instead of destroy them," I smiled.

"Your father must have been very intelligent to design such great protection," Gardevoir added.

"Yeah, he was very smart. His inventions were so cool that I wanted to do what he did when I grow up but me being homeless...Anyways," I continued forcing away those bad thoughts so I could stay calm, "When I got out of the wind tunnel I was far away from the estate. It took me five minutes to find the emergency hatch since the wind tunnel is well… a very big long tunnel. When I got out, the whole estate was on fire which meant it only took five minutes for the bad guys to set it on fire. I never looked back again. I just tried to run far away hoping my dad would keep his promise. I was running as far as I can with Celsius still out in my arms, but then a man that was wearing a black suit saw me. He started shooting at me but the armor was powerful enough to protect me, but the impact still hurt enough to knock me on the ground. I didn't know where Celsius went after seeing I dropped her, and I couldn't move because I remember how badly it hurt when the bullets hit the armor..." As soon as I recalled that memory the same soreness didn't hesitate to reveal itself as I gripped my chest. I looked down simply staring at the pain feeling bandages wrapped around that same area.

I looked back up then lit up in surprise to see by my side the little Ralts' hand on my shoulder where I noted in her half visible eyes along with the rest of her facial structure signs of sincerity, sympathy, and maybe even empathy. I wasn't sure if her psychic powers were strong even without a horn, but I still soothingly felt the pain around me retreat away back into memories; whether it was because of her physical touch or just the fact that she finally opened up some. It felt really amazing to become relaxed the presence. After my pain went away I continue on with my story.

"Th-thank you Ralts... I found Celsius as I stayed down. She was getting up far away from where I saw. The man that shot at us…I saw him pass me since he must've thought I was dead, but I…I saw him go over to her little body and stop in front of her where he raised his foot over her. Once I saw that I screamed for her seeing she wasn't moving under his foot. I remember how much everything hurt once I saw her eyes dart for me. She was so scared…I-I saw it, Celsius," I spoke lowly turning to face her. The candles around us greatly highlighted the glistening in her troubled eyes. Feeling greatly sorry, I carried her off the seat next to me and on my lap where I scratched her little scalp.

"I am so truly sorry, Rayn," Gardevoir sincerely apologized in a high volume showing me her shock, "None of us should not have urged you to tell us about that night. You don't need to say anymore."

"I can't even tell you what happened next because…I don't know what happened after Celsius faced me. I think I saw some kind of blinding white…bluish light flash in front of me before anything else happened. It was weird… The next thing I knew was that I woke up near a cliff in the forest where I could see Rustborow. But I remember that I saw Celsius next to me almost unharmed and sleeping, so I got up but my shirt was soaked… in blood. And I was not bleeding, so…I don't know how but I didn't really seem to know where to go or even where I was going. I remember feeling so hungry it hurt the both of us a lot. Then, I woke up here."

I looked at all five pokémon around me. Three of them were clenching their eyes shut letting their distress take its course through them. Celsius's eyes showed signs of breaking down as her eyes shimmered from the flickering candle light. Lucario wasn't crying but I still perceived his frowning eyes.

"Rayn, this may be a place for pokémon, but evaluating from your judgment on the matter you're in a safe place. This village is a rare type of establishment for troubled pokémon that's set as far from and human disturbance as possible; which still has me curious as to how you made it so close out here. We were all lucky to even stumble upon this place."

"Yeah…I didn't know where to go. I saw relatives get killed in front of me… that was all that I could think of as we walked. I don't even know why I didn't think about my safety. I guess I just…didn't know what was gonna happen."

Gardevoir stopped crying for the moment. Riolu and Ralts were still bawling though. "Ralts, can you go to the lake and wash up please? Your face is flushed from crying." Gardevoir asked her offspring.

"Riolu, you should also go and wash up. Keep Ralts company," Lucario added.

"Sorry guys. I didn't mean to make everyone upset," I worried seeing the little cubs walk away still sobbing while constantly wiping their faces.

When the young fighting and physic types both left, Gardevoir faced Celsius and me intently as she and Lucario moved to sit directly across from us. "We have all lost at least one important symbol in our lives?" Gardevoir asked, but before I replied she continued, "Two years ago my mate, Ralts, and I were living happily together. It was just Gallade, Ralts, and I. We lived in a small cavern surrounded by a vast forest with other fellow pokémon. Ralts had just hatched from her egg days before the incident." Gardevoir completely stopped crying as she communicated. "One day my mate was gathering nourishment when he heard rumors of humans being spotted around the area carrying those… guns. He had informed me but we didn't take any actions. We believed we could defend our home...we were so, so wrong-"

She nearly broke down right after she finished her sentence. Her head fell into her hands as she shed a few tears causing Lucario to turn her towards him wrapping her in a hug where she let out her sorrows over his shoulders. I couldn't help but feel out of place seeing Gardevoir crying and Lucario trying to calm her. I felt so helpless and depressed that I felt tears building up in my eyes two where I simply let them roll down my cheeks. Only a few more moments passed before Gardevoir sat back up straight, sniffling and wiping a few tears away as she inhaled regaining her composure.

"I'm sorry…it's just the sight of seeing your loved one die before is so much to see. I know how it feels, Rayn. It was night when it all began; a day after we received the rumors. From our cavern we saw fires within the forest and we were constantly startled by those sharp noises those humans made. I've heard of stories but have never heard those noises myself before. I grabbed Ralts in my arms. Gallade and I then fled our cavern knowing we would be captured by poachers. Trying to not encounter the poachers we ran away from the fires and noise. I can still remember everything; the screams of other pokémon calling out for anyone missing, the fires, and even the sight of pokémon being dragged away in nets past local shrubbery. I covered Ralts' eyes the entire moment we fled." Gardevoir was growing upset with more tears rolling out of her clenching eyes as she winced from telling me this. "We were happy once we fled far enough from the commotion to concentrate energy into teleporting. Before we could teleport however, I jolted from sharp noise that sounded close as Gallade fell over simultaneously. I knelt down about to tend to him before he used Psychic on someone behind me which was when I saw something silver embedded in his stomach. I quickly pulled out the sharp object seeing he wasn't bleeding but he told me he was weak. Trying to help him up, another one of those loud noises sounded off, and immediately following that was Gallade falling over again but this time something managed to puncture through him. Out of fright and confusion, I turned around and used Psychic to throw a human behind us against a tree hard enough to put him unconscious. I looked back at Gallade but Ralts' shrieked in a pained cry. I looked down at her in my arms where the thing I noticed was that one of her horns was missing. Since there are not many arteries in that appendage she was going to be fine but she was still in a lot of pain, and she won't be able to use psychic very well in the future. Gallade however was still on the ground and bleeding. I brought my mate back up and we all fled as far as we could. He couldn't run because of his wound, but we stumbled far away. We couldn't make it too far though. He had collapsed being very weak and my powers couldn't work to save him. I understood that he would depart from me at that moment. The moment we shared our goodbyes was the last moment I held him lovingly. I was so stricken by that night... It was a nightmare I never even foresaw with my abilities. I remember…yelling his name to the stars before I fell crying on his chest with Ralts behind me and unconscious. We stayed there until dawn. I didn't want to leave his side...I just didn't want to leave my mate behind but…but…" She paused almost at the brink of breaking down again as well as I hearing that she went through what I just basically went through. Ralts… her pain that night as a newborn… How could those hunters have that kind of mindset to do this? "I kept Ralts close by me as we walked for days trying to find a new shelter still suffering in grievance. Ralts was still in pain from her horn being lost from the projectile that hit Gallade. But the moment finally came after trekking for many nights when I saw Lucario picking berries, and within a few days he guided me in building a newly structured home providing shelter until we were finished," she smiled to which Lucario did the same as he nodded causing me to follow in hearing the happy ending.

"Ralts and my daughter became fast friends. I was just so relieved to see another pained pokémon recover so well," he added before facing Gardevoir where she spoke to him with her species tongue but I couldn't understand before her gaze imitated his own as they looked at each other almost deeply from my young perspective. "My story is the exact same," Lucario started now facing us, "A pokémon poacher separated my mate and I. I was also saddened and depressed for weeks after that incident. I thought I couldn't live anymore, but Riolu was the only pokémon I cared for at the time, and I vowed that I would take great care of her even if it meant doing it alone."

Hearing both of those stories was very painful, and it's not just me that's pained by it unfortunately. I can't help but feel what they had felt. Celsius couldn't help it either. I'm just the type of person to feel others' emotions; even if it is pokémon and Celsius being around me most of my life has developed that trait. I love pokémon too much and I just wish that there were more people like me who feel the same.

"I'm so sorry to hear that about you two. I can see that you both have been doing a great job at being a mom and dad, and your mates must also be very proud as they look down from their places. I'm a person, but I don't get why so many people are so selfish. I mean poachers hunt just for money! It can't be worth it to take another life just for money, but people see pokémon as…lower beings and that's not true!" I exclaimed from the anger that had formed in me throughout the stories. Celsius was also agreeing with me as she hopped around my lap crying out energetically.

"I'm so grateful to know that there are innocent humans out there who think like you Rayn. You've kept Celsius well and I've had this belief that all owners don't give full care, but I shouldn't discriminate anymore. Rayn, I know that you aren't like those humans. Celsius, you're a great pokémon and your owner has kept you well-"

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to interrupt, but I prefer friend, great friend. I don't like referring to pokémon as an object so I don't own one. We are all the same. I'm talking to smart pokémon right now," I smiled.

"Ah, see Rayn is a very odd type; the kind I prefer," Lucario smirked towards Gardevoir.

"Yes, yes I can see that," she chuckled before continuing towards us, "You care for each other. I see that you love our kind. Now, that brings me to this. I know you have nowhere else to go. If you two feel comfortable here in this village then you can stay here. I don't want you to leave with nowhere to go. You'll easily be overwhelmed. We can provide you care and shelter," Gardevoir insisted.

"R-really we can! You don't mind? But what about-"

"Yes, of course otherwise I wouldn't be offering this. Rayn, another pair of company won't be a burden at all and I can't have you two go on without another option of care. I also have to add that Ralts only has one red horn, so no younglings seem to accept her since they don't understand the situation. Ralts feel very miserable about that and Riolu is the only one who protects her. The cubs around the village don't want to play with them. I know I get very protective and Lucario and I have tried what we can to let the others know to be friendly to her. They are both desperately looking for a friend to play with. I know they don't seem to warm up to you right now, but maybe you might be perfect for the both of them in the future."

"Y-yes, we'll stay! Of course, I wanted to try and be their friend from the moment I saw them. I don't care how they look or act. I'll play with them everyday! T-thank you!" I was so incredibly joyful about this offer. I can stay here with pokémon, and we have a roof over our heads now. It's every kid's dream to live in the wild with pokémon. Celsius cried out in joy as I held her clearly happy that we have a home now; just shows how lucky we are to have them stumble upon our bodies in the first place. "Are you sure that we can live here? You don't mind?"

"Yes, why would I be so dishonest about offering a home to ones that are in dire need? I won't let you two suffer. I'm actually really happy that you're going to stay here," Gardevoir assured with a growing smile.

That was it. I felt so happy and relieved that I was found by charitable pokémon I almost couldn't believe it. My heart was pumping as I thought about the future ahead as I stayed here with new friends. I just felt so appreciative and lucky that some of the rarest pokémon found me and gave me a home. Thank you mom and dad! I should start anew here with friendly pokémon that I enjoy being around with. I know I will have a fun time here. I am going to try to forget about the death of my whole family. Besides, I know that Mom and Dad just want me to be happy, so I'll stay here. As I thought about my time here only one negative stuck out to me: Revenge. I know I have a new home, but I still want vengeance for my family's death. I couldn't get that out of my mind. Would the mafia eventually get punished by the authorities?

"I know that you're happy, so try to forget about the past, and that includes revenge," Lucario insisted, closing his eyes and then opening them to find that they were glowing cobalt blue.

"I wasn't thinking about- oh wait aura. I forgot." Aura enables anyone to read the minds of all sentient life.

"Yes, and trust me revenge won't bring back your family. It will only bring back more pain. Trust me."

"B-but my family! How am I supposed to ignore that!" I nearly yelled once the images of that night came back in a large torrent.

"Just forget about the past. That's the best thing to do, and I learned that the hard way." I had no choice but to calm down and take his words into mind, even though I couldn't believe his wisdom.

Ralts and Riolu were done with their bath as they walked in the dining room, still damp as the light caused their fur and skin to gleam. They stood near the table where I got the courage to tell them the news.

"Did you two hear?" I exclaimed with a smile jumping up from the table, "I'm going to live here. I can be your guys' friend and play every day from now on! I know I'm not the best kind, but…I really, really like you two!"

Riolu and Ralts eyes widened to the point that I could see Ralts' eyes behind the hair that was concealing them. That's either good or bad. Their eyes went from big and wide to low and piercing. So it's bad, I don't have their trust since their responses was to glare at me. I guess they don't want a new friend if it's going to be human.

"That's right, Ralts. Rayn and Celsius are staying here since they have nowhere else to go. He has no intention or ability to harm us." After Gardevoir told her daughter that, Ralts' eyes illuminated into a vibrant teal as did Gardevoir's. They both stayed like that only nodding or shaking their heads from time to time. I watched their telekinesis until Ralts sighed sharply, turned around, and stomped away. I'm guessing they argued telepathically only to have Ralts lose. "I suggest you follow them. They're showing you to your new room as I instructed them to," Gardevoir told.

I nodded then followed Ralts down the hallway as Celsius decided to stay and speak with Gardevoir. Riolu stayed with her father to talk to him. All the rooms were separated from the hallways by leaves that draped from the ceilings which acted as doors. I guess all pokémon homes here are like this. The hallway had the first door on the left side which was her room, a door all the way at the end which was Gardevoir's room, and a room on the right side of the hallway in between their rooms which just turned into my room which I would share with Celsius.

I walked in and it's similar to any other bedroom. It had a hand stitched bed which was built on a wood frame this time, a wooden square appearing to be similar to a nightstand, and an opening that served as a window with large leaves that served as drapes where the cool breeze blew in. I could see a small lake outside my window and some of my body armor being hanged dried over some kind of lining. The lake provided a really great view, and far beyond the lake I could see a cliff which marked the boundary of land and a large body of water beyond spanning far beyond the moonlit horizon. That must mean I'm facing west since the only patch of forest surrounding Rustborow is in the southwest and northwest and there aren't any big lakes around the city so could that be the ocean? The moon showed its valiant white on the reflecting lake mending its shape to the calm ripples of the water. I then felt a similar yet distinct feeling I would get before Gardevoir would communicated with me.

"So… uh, what do you think of your new room?" I turned around after hearing the high pitched feminine tone and saw Ralts looking at me as she paced around the room.

"It's amazing! This is just like any other room I've been in except with a really cool view," I answered as I planted myself on the bed.

I heard Ralts sigh in her telepathy. "Is everything that you said about what happened to you… true? I would find out but…"

"It's fine, I heard what the pokémon do to you just because of that horn you're missing-"

"Shut up! Don't look at me- It's not my fault…" I jumped a bit due to the loudness and pitch from Ralts' outburst. "Just… turn around!" I did as she told and rotated on the bed facing the wall. "I can't…I can't feel your energy when you're that far. I can only tell by being next to someone or touching them, so I don't know if I like you or not. Right now I'm really scared of… talking to you. If I see something that looks just like Mommy but their skin is not as white or hair is not green I just get so scared." I didn't know how to respond to that as I felt like I didn't belong in front of her. All I did was stare blankly at the wall yet listen to what Ralts had to say. "Mommy told me to give you a chance, but if you try to do anything she'll get you away from me."

That feeling of telepathy vanished. I turned around and saw that Ralts had left the room. However, Riolu was standing there in front of the bed this time. "I…I-I'm sorry about h-how Ralts is treating you…" When Riolu spoke her voice sounded high pitched like a girl's, but her pure shyness stuck out to me more than anything as her tone seemed very unconfident. "I…I am so sorry about what happened to you and your family. Feel better, okay."

"Thanks for your support…" was all I said back.

"I know you won't do anything to us because I can see that in your aura. Ralts can't though which is why she's scared, but she'll be your friend soon. I'm her only friend, but she's even braver than me…" she trailed off looking away as she rubbed a tricep shyly.

"You think so? Wait, what do you mean by Ralts is braver than you?"

"Well… sh-she's just more optimistic than me, so she uses that positivity to stick out within the other pokémon here, where I'm too scared of their reticules to stick out…She's so strong even though she got hurt so bad…"

"But now you have me and Celsius, right," I said hoping she would accept me as her friend.

"I… guess so, and Ralts can see that too… soon." She is shyer than Ralts. But the way that she stutters and pauses is actually kind of cute since she's just a little riolu. Though if she chooses to protect Ralts then shouldn't she be the braver one?

"What about the other pokémon? How do you think the other pokémon will react?"

"Don't worry. My father won't let anything happen to us if they don't like you here."

I chuckled from knowing how ironic it is that these pokémon who have been hurt by humans are taking care of a human who has been hurt by humans as well.

We walked out of the room and back into the dining room where we heard Lucario, Gardevoir, and Celsius chatting. It sounded like they were discussing about how I can live here happily. Lucario knew I was bored all day today. Gardevoir then looked at me to answer that question.

"How is the room? It used to be just a guest room for Riolu but it belongs to you now," she smiled.

"I love it! I think living with everyone here will be awesome."

A smile was fixed on Gardevoir and Lucario. After I said that, Riolu, surprisingly Ralts, and I went back in the room to talk amongst our selves for the rest of the night while Lucario, Gardevoir, and Celsius stayed in the dining room to do some talking of their own. I hope Ralts can open up to me.

**(POV)**

"Oh, Lucario, you know a lot about aura right?" I asked.

"Yes, Celsius, I know about everything there is to know from the powers to the legends of aura."

"Good, I need to know what exactly aura looks like when it's expelled from the body."

"What does it look like? If I can describe it, it basically takes a fiery, cloudy, or smoke-like form around the limbs expelling it. The main colors that are expelled are blue, red, or green but aura can take many colors."

"Is it possible for a human to just use it at random?"

"At random, no. A human must have the ability to use it by either being born with it or practicing it. Being born with aura is rare these days however."

"Born with it…" Damn it, could Master really have used aura to kill that gunman? Does he really does have aura? What if something like that happens again? Oh no, I just can't imagine him becoming that kind of… thing ever again. "I see… well Master left out a part in our story. I think he did use aura… because he… those flames like you said, they formed these…these long giant tentacles out of blue fog that came from his fingers and his back! Do you recognize anything like that?"

Lucario didn't respond. Instead his mouth dropped open with his eyes alert where he stared at me for seconds which really had me worried. "…How the hell could he…" Lucario paused as he began to get lost in thought. "I think you're right. I observed something odd about his aura earlier today which I've never seen before."

"Wait, you both think Rayn can use aura?" Gardevoir interjected, "Does that mean his ancestors were Aura Guardians?"

"What, I don't know! I mean I don't think so," I responded very confused about all of this, "Lucario what did you see wrong with Master?"

"I-I saw his life energy rapidly and dramatically increase to an extreme amount without any warning. I was looking at him and then his aura just shot up! You see all sentient beings have a fixed, unique amount of aura unless if they increased their life energy by practicing the art of controlling life energy daily for years. Normal beings aura are at a normal level which in my eyes shows dimmed, tinted, or darker colored aura in their bodies. Rayn's was like that this morning until I witnessed his aura skyrocket to blazing, bright blue before me in a single second. Right now his aura count is even higher than mine!"

"What does that mean? I don't understand," I panicked demanding some answers.

"It means he has enough life energy to harness aura, but not on his own; at least not yet and not that it's a bad, life threatening situation. He does have aura but it only reacts and affects him when his body needs it which is actually very good. It's just impossible, though... Today it is very, very rare for humans to be born with aura, and the chance that Rayn is one of only a few humans…Celsius, I need to search through your memories one more time."

"Okay…" Lucario's eyes began to glow teal as he held his paw out towards me which also began to glow teal with aura.

"Unbelievable… This leaves me almost speechless…"

"What, is something wrong? Please tell me!" I asked almost fearing that he had discovered something wrong with him.

"No, it's just Rayn did use aura, and from what I saw in his life energy earlier today, he is able to learn how to control it like an Aura Guardian would if he wishes anytime in his life. Celsius, do you know if there were any Aura Guardians or Aura Readers in his family's history?"

"I don't think so. I never heard anyone in our family talk about using aura before."

"May I add something? Now that I think about it, didn't you find anything odd with Rayn, Celsius?" Gardevoir asked.

"Well… actually yes. He looks less depressed about this whole ordeal but I'm still shaken up by it," I answered, "I mean I still don't want to get near him sometimes for what he had done to that mafia guy when we were trying to escape. It's like he's totally forgotten about how brutal that massacre was…especially when you proposed a home to him!"

"Exactly, for a seven year old little human child he seems to be very intelligent, unaffected by a great the loss, and even physically built. I know you told me that he played those…sports, but that's impossible for an ordinary boy to become and cope with, especially at seven years old. He speaks very well, he has toned arms and legs with little fat, and he managed to explain that story with more control than I thought," Gardevoir responded. I took this into mind and she is actually right about everything.

"That's because the abnormal high count of aura in his body has enhanced every cell in his body. That's if he was born with aura which I'm assuming he was but it just hasn't shown until…basically today. Also, life energy is an automatic defense for anyone who possesses it meaning that some hormones in his body will secrete early and continuously. Testosterone is one of them and it's designed to enhance the muscles at an early age hence why he has an athletic build and it's just the beginning. I hear humans that were born with aura are expected to hit puberty very early for their bodies to build more mass for better defenses," Lucario explained.

"Okay, look I don't care what aura is and does! I don't mean to act rude but it's just you guys act like it's a very bad thing and I'm scared for his life. I want to know how Master got it and used it, if he even does have it first of all."

"He has the ability to harness aura, that's a given. I'm absolutely sure about it. I saw in your memories, Celsius, that he used it that night against that man who nearly beat you. Why does he have aura, I don't know. It's just not normal… How did he use it, his body must've seen death coming so he automatically used aura as a last resort getaway but he doesn't remember any trace of that happening. Now none of this is actually bad. He's very lucky in fact otherwise you both wouldn't be here right now, so think of it that way. According to your memories, he used a form of a much forbidden grade of aura. He used an Aura Outbreak. That's when energy consisting of rage combined with fear builds inside the body to the point that it bursts into uncontrollable powers. Aura Guardians lose all control over their bodies when they use Aura Outbreak which causes unintentional disasters. It's so unstable that only one aura guardian was able to learn how to control and summon it at his own will."

"So he used it because he was scared and angry… but I thought he was just a sweet ordinary little boy, not some… aura user."

"He's not an aura guardian yet. And-"

"W-wait. What do you mean not yet?" I questioned almost showing my agitation towards Lucario.

"Do you not understand that Rayn is capable of using aura! There are only a few humans left in this world that know how to use it. For his benefit, I will train him how to use it once he becomes old enough."

"Why? He won't need it ever in his life!"

"Maybe it's for the best that he learns how to use aura before he accidently hurts someone."

I gave that some thought. Rayn did kill that man horribly…"Okay, but you don't know why he was born with aura?"

"I'm sorry but I don't think I can explain it."

"Damn it," I nearly sobbed, "I don't understand it. What does this all mean? Why does he randomly have aura? Rayn tortured a man to death right in front of me and he doesn't even remember it! Arceus, I hope he'll be okay…"

**(POV)**

"Sooooo… what's it like being human?" Riolu asked as Ralts gave her a dirty glare after she asked that question.

"Uh, I guess it's nothing great," I answered innocently as Riolu sat on the floor across from me almost intrigued by what I had to say, "I mean I had cool stuff to do. What do pokémon do around here? Like what's your purpose around here 'cause I'm curious."

"Father said something about our greater purpose for our line is to reproduce," Riolu answered.

"Reproduce?" I asked scratching my head hard trying to figure out what she meant. "Breeding, that's what you all do?"

"He told me that he would tell what that means when I'm a year old," she smiled which got Ralts to nudge her annoyingly.

Lucario called Riolu to tell her that they must leave which was much to my disappointment since I had many questions left unanswered.

We all said our good byes with a few waves. As Lucario and Riolu left, the rest of us were calling it a night too. I was very tired from talking too much and even yelling earlier at the table. I was straightening up my blanket on my bed that was made of zigzagoon fur which told me more about their technology. It felt even softer than the blanket I always used back when I was at the estate which is something impressive. I heard the long leaves rustle at the door way behind me. Ralts was poking her head through the leaves where I felt that psychic feeling again.

"I just wanted to wish you… g-good night… Rayn. Get better."

Did Ralts just wish me goodnight? Before I could reply though, Celsius walked in through the leaves where I noticed that her face was a little flush like she just stopped crying. She must still be sad from Gardevoir's story.

"What's wrong, are you still sad about our family?" I asked her kneeling down to pick her up.

"Tor tor chik." Her tone did show some concern.

"Are you sure? It sounds like something is bothering you."

"Torchic- torch."

"Ok then since you're pretty tired I just got the bed set up for us both. Its okay, everything will be all better now. We can start a new life. You have to be strong Celsius, no matter how bad things can get."

"Whoa! You can understand everything she says!" marveled Ralts as she completely walked in my room.

"Yeah I can understand about everything she says," I responded happy that Ralts finds interest in talking to me, "Not exactly word for word but enough of the coding to make her statement. I was also able to understand my other pokémon, Lithium. I must have formed this bond of understanding only those two since I lived with them for so long."

"Oh yeah, then what did she say?" Ralts asked in a teasing manner which also took me by surprise.

"Uh… Uh, first she said, "Nothing." Then she said, "I'm just really tired, that's all."

"What the- that's so cool!" she exclaimed with a smile.

"I know and I'm glad I'm with pokémon that I can understand."

Ralts started to giggle at my comment. "I guess if you can bond with Celsius that close then maybe you aren't bad after all. Well good night you two."

Celsius and I also wished her good night as I blew out the candle on the nightstand next to me. Wow, I never expected Ralts to actually accept me after a full night of keeping away from me. I kept on thinking about how my life would change, and tried to forget about the massacre. Hoping to get some pleasant dreams other than nightmares, I drifted off to sleep. Celsius was tucked in my arms as I slept through the night. Hopefully by now the mafia has been caught by what they've done.

**(POV)**

"Why did you call me here so late Lucario?" yawned Gardevoir who approached my dimmed home from behind.

"I need you to look at this and tell me if I'm not going insane. I've spent all night fresh past midnight remembering how to decipher my pack's ancient scrolls, and I think I've found something very disturbing."

"Since when did your home have all of these scrolls?" Gardevoir asked as she gazed around my living room noting all of the old browned scattered scrolls across the floor.

"In my pack I was an archive keeper and my mate was a local decipher. When we escaped I took every piece of Aura Guardian and lucario accounts with me to protect our line. It's a complex system where my pack has a fraction of our full history and all the other packs have the rest- b-but look at what I've found!" I put a few pieces of the scrolls to Gardevoir's face and illuminated the scrolls with my aura so she could read the translated calligraphy.

"It says, 'Sir Rein, Aura Guardian, 1820 to 1848'."

"Yes, now read the context I've bolded," I pointed to the brighter blue sections of the scroll.

"Is the only aura guardian in history to control Aura Outbreaks, the only aura guardian to tame and befriend the divine Ho-Oh, lead major pokémon and human reformation and unification with its effects still seen today. Primary partners: male absol, female luxray. Sir Aaron, Aura Guardian, 1811 to 1848, partner, mentor, and close friend of Sir Rein's, first to tame and befriend the divine Lugia, prevented the death of the Celestial Union. Primary partners: male lucario, female pikachu. What does this all mean?"

"I remember learning about these two men when I was just a cub. Every lucario has heard legends about them. They were both very talented aura users; actually the most powerful aura guardians ever known in history. That Lucario that belonged to Sir Rein came from the very pack I'm from which is a great honor. And they both controlled a divine legend. The divine legends, which means they controlled the highest ranking 'gods' of all Lugia and Ho-Oh. According to accounts and legend, mythical legendary pokémon have ranks in the Holy World. I remember since there's much more than one of each legend, but that's all according to legend. Divine is the ruling ranking of that legend, the God of those gods, and if they rule their own species then they direct the part of nature that fits their jurisdiction by directing the gods below them. Now all of this unnecessary information leads to this scroll. Read this one," I finished handing Gardevoir the other scroll seeing her intrigued state.

Gardevoir took the scroll as I still held my paw over it translating the calligraphy for her to read. "The year is 1848, the towers that symbolized peace between humans and pokémon, which were dedicated to Sir Rein and Sir Aaron, was attacked by opposing world forces. This sparked a very deadly war and this war had caused humans and pokémon to betray each other in various ways. If the betrayal continues it will lead to deadly consequences since the link between man and pokémon procreate necessary functions for the body of Earth. Sir Rein was in extreme rage which is different from his peaceful personality, but the peace he worked and organized hard to bring together for years was starting to crumble which he believed was caused by humans. Losing all control of his emotions, he tried to rush out of his tower, known as the Brass Tower, with dark intentions. Before he could get out, the Brass Tower detonated and burnt to the ground engulfing all of his fellow pokémon and Sir Rein in the fire and debris. Ho-oh was the only one that managed to narrowly make it out the tower, but he had sustained critical injuries. Only having a limited amount of power left, he decided to revive the lives of only three selected pokémon and reincarnate Sir Rein's soul into a human boy host. Sir Aaron sacrificed his life shortly after in another location fulfilling his goal to protect Rota, a city that holds a life force of Earth, from a deadly battle. His Lugia finds his body incased in crystals seeing his deceased state so with the remaining power he had, also reincarnated Sir Aaron's soul into another separate human boy as well. According to mythical accounts and survivors, the powerful rage still trapped within Sir Rein's soul has caused the minds and tasks of the two aura guardians to have switch while reincarnation due to the divine legends' low power at the time. The boy with Sir Rein's soul will now power Lugia instead of Ho-oh and use power to stop war by force, and the soul of Sir Aaron's will control Ho-oh bringing peace by fair compromises. Since Sir Rein's soul is filled with anger and disgust by human actions, the roles were switched from talk to force. Further foreseen speculation and theories show that these boys, the hosts, are destined to meet sometime to reunite pokémon and humans again in the closest, unbreakable link ever created forever ending this millennium lasting conflict. Aura Priests have determined and found that it will take around one-hundred-fifty years for the reincarnation process to be completed. In conclusion, Lugia and Ho-Oh together have used their energy to reincarnate and transfer the powerful souls of the aura guardians into boys one-hundred and fifty years later to protect all who walk the Earth… Prophesy of the Deadly Compromise." Gardevoir placed the scroll back on the table as she fell on the seat next to me looking very lost in thought. "Do…do you think?"

"It has been well over one-hundred-fifty years since the death of those aura guardians. Rayn can use aura as a little boy even though he doesn't inherit the powers within his genes."

"You are saying-"

"I'm not absolutely sure just yet. I would need almost every scroll created in history to figure this out. All I know is that if my pack is correct then this is all destined in a new, modern approach."

To Be Continued


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Pokémon Troubles

The radiant morning sun rays penetrated through the crevices in the wooden walls in streams of fiery red. Just barely waking up, my eyes were still adjusting to the light. I twisted to the right to see a blurry white figure standing directly in front of me. I shut my eyes for a few seconds to refocus then opened them back up to see the figure now standing further away from me at the doorway. At the doorway was a small white pokémon facing me with its covered eyes: Ralts! I propped myself up to see Ralts better almost surprise that she's willingly able to approach me. I spoke too soon however as my sudden movement caused her to turn and dash away from my room.

"Wait!" I called to her but no response came. She must still be a little scared of me even though she spoke to me before any of us went to bed.

Still thinking, I noticed that Celsius was still tucked in my arms. She started squirm before slowly opening her eyes. "Did I hear you say something, Master?" she asked in her pokémon tongue which I was able to understand.

I cleared my throat before I replied to her. "Yeah, Ralts ran away so... She's still scared of me…"

"Y…you just have to give her some more time," she spoke slowly and groggily almost making it hard for me to understand her. I looked towards the leaf drapes closing off my room before looking back at Celsius. The little torchic was staring intently at me not moving a muscle which was weird. It was like something on me was bothering her.

"What's wrong, do-do I have something on my face?" I asked bluntly as I rubbed around my cheeks.

"Oh n-no, everything's fine," she smiled at me, but clearly I saw something was wrong, "Everything is going to be all good." Even though she's trying to mask it, maybe she's still traumatized. I'm still a little shaken up about that night too.

I sat up placing Celsius down on the foot of the bed. I rubbed my eyes trying to regain focus while Celsius jumped down and yawned earning a smile from me since I've always admired her cute little actions. Standing up I could only ponder at how things are going to be now. I spent the night here at my new home in a pokémon village! Now that's awesome, but how am I supposed to fit in. I love pokémon to death but I doubt these creatures will feel the same towards me, so what am I supposed to do. It's scary just thinking about how differ I'll be. How can I make friends and play, how can I live amongst pokémon. It's always been a cool dream to live in the wild with pokémon, but my parents have always told me it's only just good to dream that since it's not real. I guess that's a lie; never knew this would become a reality but how do I start? Well, I hope Riolu and Ralts accept me here at least.

While walking down the hallway with Celsius next to me I tugged at my shirt noticing that I've been wearing the same clothes for probably the past two weeks. It's the same grey t-shirt with the white tribal stencil pattern designs and the same navy blue colored pants. I only wore these once, which was at that ceremony, so they're still brand new; was brand new. My shirt has three large holes in the back from bullet rounds. My pants are surprisingly unharmed though still dirtied with dark smudges found below my knees. I have to find a way to wash these clothes daily since it's all I basically have. Still, how am I supposed to keep wearing these every day for now on?

I proceeded into the living room and arrived at the dining room where I saw a platter full of fruits and berries on the dining table. I also saw Gardevoir's back as she was slicing a few berries with some kind of blade on a tall wooden block half her height which probably poses as a makeshift counter. Maybe she knows what I can do about these clothes. Ralts stood next to her eating a berry but noticed me where she then constantly faced me with caution as I approached them. I may not be able to see her eyes but I bet she was looking at me fixedly.

"Hey, Mommy," Ralts spoke using telepathy to the point that I was able to hear while tugging on her mother's gown.

"Yes, Darling," I heard Gardevoir delicately respond before she picked up Ralts and gave her a sweet, motherly kiss on the cheek before setting her back down. She turned around and noticed Celsius and me. "Oh, good morning, Rayn," Gardevoir greeted happily.

"Uh, good morning…" I responded shyly finding I was still not used to my new living conditions, especially with the fact that Gardevoir kindly allows me to stay here.

"Did you two sleep well?"

"Oh, it was finally good," I replied putting emphasis on "finally" since I was having nightmares about that night...

"Yes, and again thank you for letting us stay here," Celsius chirped, "We really, really appreciate it."

"You two are very, very welcome. This is your new home now and you both shouldn't feel out of place. Matter of fact, I'm preparing a picnic this afternoon. Maybe that'll have the welcoming effect letting you two get relaxed making it easier to get settled in."

"Oh no please, really, we really appreciate everything but you don't have to do so much just for us," Celsius reassured.

"Don't worry Celsius. This is nothing so don't worry about any repercussions because you two are not a burden at all," Gardevoir smiled.

"Thank you…" I added already feeling at ease within her friendly presence. "Gardevoir, what do pokémon do to keep good hygiene… b-besides cleaning themselves?" After I asked that, I took a seat at the table and grabbed an apple taking a bite while I placed three cheri berries in front of Celsius since I know she really loves how spicy they are.

I heard Gardevoir's giggle echo within my head. "Well, not all pokémon clean themselves like that so you don't have to worry. My species doesn't."

"Oh sorry, I mean how do you keep good breath and clean up?"

"We pick fresh mint leaves and chew them. That grinds away any food particles and the minty flavor will freshen your breath. They grow in the bushes next to the lake."

"Okay, what about washing clothing like mines?"

"We use the stream behind the lake."

"Then what about bathing?"

"Use the lake."

"Wouldn't it contaminate the lake though?"

Ralts shook her head this time as she sat at the table. "The water's always clean," Ralts added, which is good seeing her finally speak to me. I wonder how they do keep the lake clean though.

"Oh then what about-"

"It's okay, I'm sure you have many more questions to ask. I'll show you the normal routine after everyone is done eating."

I nodded finishing my fruit before eating two more. As Gardevoir promised she led us out to the lake once we finished breakfast. I saw many species of pokémon outside, including a shroomish, an oddish, and three seedot. I was so amazed by all the pokémon around even though it was only a few common species, but once they saw me they all retreated into the forest or behind vegetation.

"It's okay, they aren't used to humans, but since you're young and with me they shouldn't let the guards around here know," Gardevoir began.

"Are you sure that I'm going to fit in? I mean so far I've been scaring off everyone," I shyly asked.

"Lucario is actually out to let the Founder know that we are taking care of you. Trust me, by the time Lucario gets back everyone will know that you're harmless."

"Whoa, how will that happen?" I marveled.

"We pokémon have our ways," she smiled.

I left the subject alone right there though still theorizing about the phenomenon. I guess the "Founder" is the leader or mayor of this whole village. We walked around towards the side of the lake. When we got there, I spotted little Riolu already next to some shrub bushes. It looked like she was chewing on the leaves already.

"Okay, so to keep a good breath. You pick two or three of these mint leaves and chew them for about a minute, just like what Riolu is doing it right now," Gardevoir informed.

I hesitantly did as she told taking some of the leaves into my mouth followed by Ralts. I picked a couple more for Celsius who immediately rejected it shaking her head before hopping away from my hand.

"I've never washed my mouth before so what makes you think I'll do it now?" she told.

Rolling my eyes I got back to chewing. The taste was minty of course, but the texture of the leaves was awful. It was hard to chew and the bitter after taste wasn't helping. It's worse than the taste of toothpaste. I looked at Riolu who was taking her time chewing totally unaffected by the taste. She cutely waved at me in a friendly gesture before she actually started giggling from I'm guessing the face I was making. Well…at least she definitely seems to accept me now which got me to smile a bit.

"You okay?" Gardevoir asked since she probably noticed my uncomfortable expression.

I moved all the grinded leaves to the side of my mouth to try to talk clearly. "Yah, fie jus' nefer chew on leafes befoe. Duh I haf to sallow 'em?"

"Do you have to swallow them? Not if you don't want to." After she said that I noticed that Ralts and Riolu swallowed theirs. Oh man, are you serious; they made this whole routine look so easy! After the two young pokémon were done, Gardevoir grabbed a few leaves and began chewing them down.

Repulsed by the rough contents, I turned around and then forced all of the bits of leaves out of my mouth then used the lake water to rinse my mouth. Afterwards I noticed that what I just did was probably rude and disgusting. After I was done Gardevoir also swallowed the leaves she chewed up.

"Sorry, I just couldn't swallow that stuff."

"Oh, no need to apologize. Some others spit it out."

I actually noticed that the mint taste effect started kicking in. It was actually stronger than toothpaste and yet it's less time consuming. I guess the hard and tough edges of the leaves remove plaque and other stuff in your teeth. I actually might prefer this method than toothbrushes anytime.

"So what about bathing and clothing?"

"All you got to do is take them off and get in the lake to wash up. The water will wash away all the dirt on you with enough scrubbing from your hands."

"Take off my clothes… in front of you three!"

"Yes, and I can take your clothes and wash them in the stream on the other side of the lake. Why, what's wrong?"

"I don't know. I mean I'm used to being naked in front of Celsius, but in front of you three just doesn't seem right."

"Why, is it because I look like a woman and Ralts looks like a girl?" Gardevoir bluntly asked.

"N-no I mean…yeah. I'm just too embarrassed! Even Riolu looks a bit human. I don't I'm just not used to bipedal pokémon so it's like you three are humanoids." I have many reasons why I don't want to get naked, but what she guessed is the number one reason!

"Rayn, I don't even have to guess. I can clearly see the conflicting emotions in you."

"Oh…" Right, she's a psychic type! Gotta be careful with the way I think. Oh man, that's another reason why I can't! They either understand me perfectly or I understand them, so I'm also embarrassed since I can understand when they giggle or gossip. I'm too used to Celsius to care about what she sees though, especially since she doesn't look anything like a person. Though, these are pokémon so nothing out of the ordinary should happen right?

"Listen, you don't have to worry about any gossiping occurring. Plus, you have an athletic build for a human your age so there's nothing wrong with you. Actually how did you become so athletic?"

Those comments that contradicted her first claim had my cheeks tighten and warm up fast "A…a lot of hard work- I can explain at the picnic!" I quickly said, "But do you three swear that you don't mind at all?"

"Yes! If it makes it better for you then I can have Ralts and Riolu bathe after you're done okay." Both the little pokémon began giggling making feel even more uncomfortable. I even saw part of Riolu's muzzle change color from blue to a slight tint of red… great.

"Fine I guess. Wait, hang on, why am I asking this when all pokémon don't even have clothes at all, duh?"

"That's not true actually. There are some species that are actually born with an outer layer of skin that can turn into or represent clothing."

"Really?"

"You're looking at two perfect examples at this very moment."

I looked over Ralts and Gardevoir and then my knowledge returned. "Oh, oops, that's right some species do have some clothes to help enhance power like machoke that wears a belt to protect its energy or even lucario, the shorts that they wear to store potential aura. How did I forget that?" Must've gotten so flustered by the situation I forgot about those facts.

"Exactly, but pokémon still don't mind much," Riolu added.

"Whoa, wait are you guys going to get naked in front of me?"

"Not if you don't feel comfortable."

"I…I'm not, sorry. I don't know why but seeing females naked in front of me that closely resemble people…it's bad."

Ralts and Riolu fell into a giggling fit causing to feel really embarrassed in return. Gardevoir soon silenced the situation by glaring at the both of them. "It's okay; just tell us when you're done, but I still need your clothes to wash."

Great, now I gotta find a way to take these clothes off without them seeing me. "I'll just take my clothes off behind a tree then jump in the lake right after, but can you guys turn around first?"

"Oh, absolutely."

I ran to the closest tree to undress. While undressing though, it finally hit me that Gardevoir has washed these clothes before while I was being healed and she must've bathed me at the same time. So she did see me naked before, gah! After I took off my clothes I tossed them over to Gardevoir and then ran to the lake not letting a single second pass before I jumped in.

"Ok we'll be over by the stream if you need us." Celsius went with the group.

I saw that the lake drained over to a spot where they were heading which wasn't that far away. Well at least I have my privacy for now. I used the comfortably warm water to scrub myself down. After I was done bathing I went to get Gardevoir, Ralts, Riolu, and Celsius, but how am I supposed to dry off and get to them? Also, how am I supposed to get my clothes to dry fast enough for me to quickly put them on? Shoot, I should've thought of those things in the first place! With no ideas, I gave up and just walked towards the females hoping the pokémon wouldn't mind. When I got close enough I hid behind a bush and called for them.

"Hey I'm done now, but how do I and my clothes get dry?"

"You're going to have to stay outside for a bit to dry; naked I should add. Your clothes will be hung out side and will take a little while so I would get used to being nude if I were you."

"Really?" I whined.

"Welcome to the world of Mother Shaymin, Rayn. It's where pokémon learn how to adapt to their surroundings, and in this case views," Gardevoir chuckled.

"Fine..." I groaned. I decided to stop hiding and just be exposed. They're pokémon so they shouldn't really stare since I'm human. I finally emerged from behind the shrubbery into their plain sight. I know Celsius had seen me naked before, but Gardevoir and especially Ralts and Riolu are different stories.

Unexpectedly, they all just got up and walked towards the lake with me behind them. They didn't seem to care; what relief! I spoke too soon however, and as we walked back to the lake… every time I turned my head to view the surroundings I could've sworn the two little young pokémon would take a peek at me because whenever I turned back towards the both of them, I caught their heads flicking back towards the lake. Wait… were they actually staring at me naked? Well, maybe they're just curious about what people look like without any clothes so I guess it's not a big deal.

When we arrived at the lake Gardevoir hung my shirt and pants over some kind of thin fiber while I stood around and waited for them to dry. Thank goodness it's still warm at this time of year. During which I saw a couple of other pokémon appear in front of the lake, but once they all saw me I caught their grimacing expressions and then they quickly vanished. Still awed by the scenery I panned around until I viewed Ralts and Riolu both glancing at me. Well, at least now I know for sure Ralts is comfortable looking at me now. I waved at them smiling trying to be friendly but they didn't respond. Their faces were still pitched downwards towards… me down there!

"Hey!" I yelled before turning around covering myself up with my hands. "My eyes are right here!" I pointed. They didn't respond, but kept looking downward. It was like they were put in a weird trance. "What are you two doing!" I scolded at them in embarrassment completely turning around and looking away this time.

They eventually snapped out of their daze and looked away, Ralts placing her hands on her cheeks, and Riolu rubbing her arm. Both their faces were clearly blushing hard I even saw it on Riolu. It was actually cute watching them act flustered it made me giggle a little. But still, what the heck? They were looking at my privates! Little pokémon staring at my privates; aw that's weird! Wait, they're probably just curious so nothing wrong, right? Gardevoir then turned around looking at all of us with piercing eyes.

"Ralts! You know better than to stare! Come over here and help me with these clothes, and Riolu, your father has taught you better!" yelled Gardevoir while in telepathy so the volume was magnified tenfold.

Both of them responded by trudging over to her. They were still blushing but also showed signs of shame.

"I'm sorry, you two, I didn't mean to yell," I apologized a little ashamed at myself for snapping at the innocent pokémon.

"No it's fine," Gardevoir replied, "They must be hitting that… age," she finished nearly trailing off before staring up deep in thought. "Uh oh," she added but a little quieter. Celsius eyes dilated in surprise once she heard Gardevoir's theory before she glared at the two little pokémon.

"What age? Do they get some kind of special ability? Do all pokémon get a special ability when they hit the age they're at?" After I asked I heard Celsius struggle to hold in a chortle before she shook her head.

"No, No, it's an age where… uh where you, actually all-"

"Don't explain it to him. He won't understand… yet," Celsius interrupted.

"Understand what? I want to know all I can about pokémon."

"Sure Master, we all get a special ability, yes." Celsius did look like she was covering something up. Whatever, I guess she knows best when it comes to pokémon.

After the clothes were hung properly, Riolu jumped into the lake while Ralts and Gardevoir started to undress right in front of me. I was behind Gardevoir and it looked like she was slipping off the green portion of her gown off her shoulders. Whoa I thought that was all skin but I guess that green area is just the top part of her dress; interesting. Once I saw her upper back exposed along with her red horn free of the clothing I immediately realized I was watching her get nude!

"W-wait, maybe I should go inside."

"You can't you're still wet. The wooden floor will swell up and stain."

Gardevoir Stopped what she was doing as Ralts blushed again. I got up and pondered for a second on what to do. Ralts and Riolu both still stared at my private area so I had to cover them up. So, Gardevoir is the species that is said to look more human than any other pokémon. I know from research that most female pokémon, except some water types, grow actual breasts since that's just a part of nature. Even most, probably all, female flying and avian species grows them. It's crazy 'cause they all look like human boobies with the two round breasts no matter what species except they're covered with fur, feathers, or scales. If I'm right, pokémon fully grow them once they've evolved to their final evolution. Their breasts are slightly concealed by fur or feathers until they go into heat, except for scaly pokémon, but until they go into heat they're chest just sticks out in a curvy bulge with some having a thick tuft of fur or feathers covering them similar to like a woman's shirt or top; it's weird. I got this off a documentary on pokémon anatomy; when they do go into heat their nipples are more exposed within the fur or feathers and even scales since scales for most pokémon act as a protective armor which shows their arousal I think? It was something like that.

Plus, the bigger the curve on their chest the bigger the bust, which usually depends on body size, body shape, and the egg group of the species if they do grow them. The smaller the body size the smaller the breasts will be, but if a pokémon is bigger than the size can be big; even bigger than some humans. If the pokémon has a quadruped body shape then its breasts will be small enough to be concealed, but get this. Looking closely at a quadruped, you would see two slight bulges or curves on their chest causing the fur around there to look puffy. I've seen it a lot on my friends' pets. In this case, Gardevoir has no fur or feathers, she's around five feet tall, and she's in the intermediate egg group, so her breasts will show no matter if she's in heat or not.

I feel a little awkward about those facts being applied to Gardevoir. And I think Ralts and Riolu are still staring at my private area. To add to the tension, there have been many cases of people actually having sex with their pokémon which is illegal. The conclusion of every case is usually people get really desperate and see a pokémon with breasts- I don't know, I never understood why someone would want to do that but my parents told me I'm too young to watch those news articles anyways. I don't know if those people really did love their pokémon, but my parents were against it so I have to be against it.

"I'll just be at the stream. I actually want to look at the ocean view anyways," I finished off by walking over to the Cliffside of the forest.

"Okay then. We'll undress as soon as you're over there."

I passed the calm stream where I found myself on the precipice of a tall cliff. I began looking out towards the ocean knowing this was the west of the region of Hoenn. This amazing view can be seen from my bedroom it was awesome. The water glistened from the morning sun as it shone directly above the forest canopy. Its warm rays struck the water causing a beautiful show of sparkles on the surface which was made by Mother Shaymin herself. The Wingulls and Pelippers cruised the warm atmosphere without an important destination in mind. The sounds of crashing waves against the cliff side caused me to slip into deep thought.

First thought of course was the sight of my friends and family getting murdered. No matter how bad I try I can't shake the thoughts out. I have always wanted to be a pilot, an aeronautical engineer almost like my dad, or a pokémon trainer, but now to become one of those is close to impossible for me. If I go back to school, the news of me being the sole survivor of that night is going to spread all over the region and even all over the nation as some kind of miracle. Once that happens I might become the biggest target of the Mafia and no matter how much protection I get, it may not be enough. From what I saw that night, the Mafia doesn't play around and they don't care who the targets are. I just can't picture what they did to my family and I thank Arceus that I didn't witness any deaths first hand.

With a clenched fist I pounded the ground releasing my frustration. Those heartless people! What did my family ever do to deserve this? No one deserves to be massacred like that… except those Mafia mobsters. I hope the police have already caught them and gave them what they really deserve, but I wish I had the power to just kill all of them myself. They killed my family so I want to kill theirs, but I already know that's never going to happen, but I just wish… I know I shouldn't but I wish I could kill them all. Just shoot them all! Okay…okay, at least I have a new family now. I took a look back at the three pokémon, and as soon as I did I froze.

Gardevoir no longer had her gown on anymore. Her whole body was slender and full pale white including her arms that were green before she had stripped down. She must've had green glovettes from her hand and going up her arms because I remember seeing those slip off her shoulders. Wow… I've never ever seen a naked anything before and she was close to a woman. As she continuously ran her arms across her flat belly her breasts were fully exposed and her arm movements kept on squeezing them together, and in mere seconds I couldn't switch my attention away! Like Riolu and Ralts, once I looked a trance locked me in. It's exactly like how they stared at me naked just like what I'm doing… Wait, naked puts everyone in trances? Is that why in movies they're so fascinating to boys and men? It's fascinating to me but I don't know why. I mean wow; I can't stop looking away when I know I shouldn't be looking!

The two orbs were great in size, maybe larger than some humans', I heard the bigger the better by some friends. In the center of her bare breasts were the small pink spots that no movie ever showed. I couldn't look away from the nipples; I only focused in on them. The water running down her chest made them more worth gazing at for some reason, and that put me in a deep hypnosis that I have never felt before. Her whole body was amazing to look at, especially for some reason her butt as she turned. To me, that was the best part about her and when she would bend over to scoop some water I just cringed involuntarily as I stared at that large round particular spot of hers. I don't know why but I liked the view a lot when she bent over.

It took me another minute to finally realize "oh my Arceus what am I doing!" I'm I staring at a full nude pokémon and liking it? I had to smack myself across the face just to get out of the view. Either she used her psychic powers on me or something else came over me.

Try to forget that I ever saw that! I feel really ashamed and wrong for even looking at any kind of boob. It was a pokémon too! Oh man, try as hard as I could but it was harder than I thought to completely forget. Is Gardevoir seriously trying to use Confusion on me because I am confused? Look at the ocean; concentrate all thoughts on the horizon. Okay I think it's working…

"Damn it! Why can't I get it out of my head!" I blurted out.

Seconds later I looked up to see the females direct their attention towards me where I tried hard to look away. "Are you okay?" yelled Gardevoir back at me.

"Yeah fine, I'm fine! I'm okay." Once they went back to bathing I swiped away a few drops of sweat from my forehead. "Wow that was close," I spoke.

Finally, after the pokémon were done they dried up and slipped their so called clothes back on. Relief kicked in since I can actually look at them now without staring uncontrollably. Ralts and Riolu were still blushing for some reason though. My clothes were finally dry enough to be placed back on, but still pretty damp. We all walked into Gardevoir's home and I went in to straighten my bed up. Just after I fixed my bed though, Lucario knocked on the entrance of the house for permission to step inside.

"The Founder now knows that Rayn will be staying here for now on under your primary care," I heard Lucario announce, "He only agreed because he is just a boy. I convinced him that his love for pokémon will not bring anyone any harm."

I walked back into the living room. "Thank you for doing that. Now he should be able to freely explore the village without any trouble," Gardevoir replied.

"How does each and every pokémon in this village know about me so fast?" I marveled jumping in the conversation.

"Subtle beats and pulses that are passed through the ground by the Founder's assistant. All pokémon here can detect them since our paws are sensitive enough to decode the beats. You should be able to roam around now," Lucario answered.

I thought that was amazing. I didn't feel a thing at my feet this past hour. Now that every pokémon knows I'm here, I can go outside without anyone getting startled.

"Hey…"Ralts began timidly, "Since it's still early and we're all done with cleaning up…you wanna…I-Riolu wants to know if she and I can show you around the village?"

Whoa, did… did Ralts just ask me a question. Is she actually okay with strolling along side me? "Uh, yeah… yeah cool! I want you guys to show me around. Are you coming Celsius?"

"No, I'm fine staying here. I'm just going to help set up the picnic."

The two females actually formed small smiles; they were faint but still apparent. Lucario and Gardevoir gave us approval and we left the home walking outside to the front. To my amazement there were all sorts of pokémon out here at different shapes, sizes, and colors. I would try to name them all, but there were just dozens of them in sight. But what really amazed me was that none of them gave a cold stare at me or ran. As a matter of fact a few came up to me and I guess greeted me.

I identified one of the pokémon that greeted me as a fully grown male rhydon. I have an encyclopedia-like knowledge of pokémon so I can almost easily identify most of the pokémon that come from the closest regions surrounding Hoenn. He talked to me in a friendly way, I think, but I couldn't understand a thing he was saying. Riolu translated for me though. We introduced each other and in the end he considered me one of his friends. Wow, at first when he saw me I was scared that he would drill my guts out. Funny though, I thought rhydon only came from the Kanto Region; guess he was abandoned by a trainer maybe.

"You wanna see the main center? There's more to do down there," Riolu proposed.

"Ooh please, I want to hurry and see way more pokémon and see how everyone lives around here!"

**(POV)**

"You know Lucario, now that Rayn was conscious I read his future last night during his sleep and you're right! I was able to see quick visions of him using some of the abilities you described. I can foretell that changes will begin as soon as winter." I heard Gardevoir say from her kitchen to Lucario. I stopped and eavesdropped on them from the hallway intent on finding out more about this "aura wielding" thing.

"Fascinating, will the changes be positive?"

"No, I'm afraid they might be… traumatic." I gasped upon hearing this.

"But how will it be traumatic to him?"

"Yes, how will it be traumatic to him!" I thought to myself still being concealed behind the walls.

Gardevoir sighed. "I caught many visions; so many visions appeared with many of them out of focus so I'm not absolutely sure if they'll even happen. But… many of these visions…they were filled with rage, hatred, despair, so many negative emotions. Within these visions were guilt, conflicting emotions…and murder," I gasped harder once I heard this. I stayed where I was listening in for more information. "He told us last night that he and his father would go daily and learn how to use 'guns'. The skills he acquired over the couple of years during those sessions will, I'm afraid, have to be put to use for the rest of his life in the name of vengeance from what I foresaw."

"…Damn it, not what I hoped to hear," Lucario grunted with worry in his voice, "Avenging…avenging one's death does not comfort anyone, and I learned that the hard way. So…what's the scale of the murders?"

"Massive," she answered after several seconds of silence.

"Please, get to the point and answer why," I voiced quietly getting pent up from the slow deliverance of the information.

"He won't kill the innocent… intentionally, but he'll execute his enemies. I saw that he'll learn combat as superior as your methods, he'll be taught masterful survival techniques, and he's even trained on how to use aura taught by a modern being of eminence."

"What the fuck!" I whispered loudly completely astonished and baffled by what I was hearing. Why and how would all of this be possible? Is she even certain?

"Arceus, help his soul," I heard Lucario sigh, "What will he do if he's successfully with achieving vengeance?" Lucario asked.

"I'm not certain. So many images of his future appeared too rapidly- his future is complicated. But when you showed me those scrolls last night, did the other scrolls explain every little detail about the reincarnation process or how Sir Rein and Sir Aaron lived? Maybe those can provide some clues."

"My Arceus, how could you?" I cried to myself, "What is she talking about!"

"No, the ancient scrolls of Aura History are scattered to the other packs, tribes, and clans of lucario. The rest of the clues, which could reveal who the hosts are along with the full answer about this legend, can only be found probably throughout Sinnoh… The scrolls I showed you were just part of a large theory. Damn it, all the many packs in Sinnoh has a piece of the puzzle which determines if the prophesy is absolutely true or not. The scrolls I have are just a fraction of the answer."

"Scrolls… prophesy?"

"So you're not sure if what I read last night is surely true. That was as far as I could get into Rayn's future so I'm not certain myself. Some kind of force stopped me from going any further and I think it was his aura shielding his thoughts," Gardevoir continued.

"Hmm… Celsius," I heard Lucario call out causing me to flinch, "You can come out now. I think you've heard enough."

Shit, of course he can tell I was spying. I walked into the kitchen and stood before Gardevoir. I was too frustrated and even disgusted to even care about how pissed off I looked. "Is it true… is everything you said true?" I asked barely able to get a grip of my emotions.

Gardevoir walked, or hovered, around the room and looked like she was lost in thought and even distressed which in turn infected me. She sighed then stopped in front of me "It's all very unclear Celsius. It's just a prediction-"

"This-this can't be happening!" I cried, "He's just a boy! Why-How can you two even…even predict these things? What else have you been hiding from me?" I choked holding in my sobs.

"Nothing, we swear it Celsius. We discovered these things last night. Once I saw his aura levels climb yesterday I decided to stay up and investigate. I have records about these kinds of cases and everything you've just heard may be based around him. There's a good chance that they are," Lucario calmly answered.

"Oh my Arceus- the way you two were describing it… his life is going to be a living hell," I told coldly, "Murder…and on a massive scale? What the fuck is that supposed to mean. From the way I see it, you guys are in no place to judge his future. You're not supposed to be predicting it. I'm not letting any of this play out. I'm not letting any of this play out!"

I stormed outside not wanting to hear anymore about what's supposed to happen in the future. Walking out back I couldn't help it. Stumbling over I cried in the forest unable to cope with everything that was happening. What's…what's to really become of us? What's going to happen to Master?

**(POV)**

The two young pokémon showed me around the village center, a place where pokémon mainly socialize just like how people do and even from what I saw purchased items. Small shops and booths built out of the same material the homes were built of lined up the pathways within the center creating an amazing network of socialization within the dense forest that I've never seen in a documentary before. Just seeing the activity at first glance was breathtaking. So many pokémon that were mostly common within the region filled the pathways. It might have even been a trainer's dream to walk in here, and hopefully it stays that way. I wouldn't want a selfish trainer to ruin the activities. Best of all, all of the pokémon looked at me only with curious faces and didn't mind my presses at all.

After walking around and being introduced to many of the landmarks we passed along a booth where I saw several familiar products lining up the counter for show. All of them were human accessories and technological goods, so I guessed it was some kind of souvenir store maybe where human made objects of interest are salvaged and sold. A male aipom approached me from behind the counter being a little hesitant but after a couple seconds he showed his trademark cheesy grin and spoke to me where Riolu translated.

"Hey want to take a peek at something interesting?" Riolu translated back to me. Aipom handed me a compact camera and upon inspection I recognized it as a high performance camera; a digital SLR, the expensive kind professional photographers use. It had a long cylindrical piece attached to the front being the lens, a long translucent piece of plastic on the top which I think is the flash, and the camera itself appeared a bit bulky. I feel bad for the guy that originally lost this priceless piece of tech. "Bet you don't know what that is," Riolu translated further.

"Hang on. My mom had something like this." I played around with the buttons until I found the power switching the camera on. It was actually still in good condition. There weren't many scratches and the quality was very clear, especially with the long pipe lens that was snapped on. After tweaking around with it some more I aimed the camera at Riolu and Ralts who looked very confused at what I was doing. "Smile!" I giggled anticipating the reaction I was about to get from them. They did so then were surprised by the bright flash that was emitted by the rectangular plastic piece on top of the camera. The resulting picture loaded on the screen immediately after the snap shot. The shutter speed is incredibly fast as with the frames per second.

"Ow, what the heck is that thing!" they both yelled in unison.

Recovering from my laughter after seeing their adorable, comical glares I replied, "Sorry, haha, it's a camera. Look." I showed them the picture where they both rubbed their eyes before squinting at the screen.

"I can't see anything! How can I look at that piece of junk when I can't see anything?" Ralts complained proving to me how open she had gotten towards me throughout the tour. They both continuously rubbed the flashes out of their eyes.

"Whoa! Riolu look at this!" Both their eyes widened from the shock of looking at a digital picture of themselves for the first time.

"I-is that us?" Riolu asked now taking a grip of the camera.

"Yeah, look, it's you two smiling for the camera. You two look so cute!" After glancing a bit more at the frozen piece of time they both looked at me before abruptly turning away blushing very clearly.

"R-really, thank you. I was never told by anyone else that I was cute before…o-other than my father," Riolu spoke.

"Yeah, me too…especially because of this…" Ralts pointed gesturing to her nearly completely chipped horn.

"Oh really, how can you two not have been told you were cute before," I giggled, "Who cares if you're missing a fin, you still look pretty, you both look so pretty like you're groomed everyday!" Both of them turned opposite directions this time getting a little more fidgety and I couldn't help but find that adorable. I was happy to see them both really happy from my complements.

I heard the aipom cry out gathering all of our attention with an impatient look. He spoke to Riolu and afterwards she nodded in disappointment. "He said the camera costs 15,000 poké."

"But what's poké?"

"It's our way of buying stuff, but we don't have any," Ralts answered.

"Oh, okay…shoot." I looked towards the aipom who was waiting for the poké to be given. I really wanted my new friends to have that camera and play around with it some more. I saw their disappointed expressions so I tried to negotiate. "Sorry Aipom, but can you let these two try it out a little longer?"

"He said no, you already tried it out, so you buy it or leave it."

"What if I trade you?" I pulled some of my own money that still thankfully remained in my pocket from long ago. I had a five dollar bill and six quarters. "Here, doesn't this look super cool to sell to your customers?" I asked a little nervously showing him the paper money.

Aipom began yelled at us and I saw that Riolu was getting irritated. "He said, 'Do you think I'm stupid human? I know what that green thing is! I see it all the time!'" she mocked.

I then presented the six quarters I had. "What about these silver coins?" I tried.

"He wants to see them." The aipom snatched them out of my hand and surveyed the silver quarters. "Hmm, I have never seen silver coins this big before. Maybe I will trade you the camera for these six silver 'pretties'," she translated back.

"Great, so deal?" I affirmed.

"You got it human, and here are these wires that I found with the camera. They work with any electric pokémon around here." After Riolu translated, Aipom handed me the charger, 3 lenses of different sizes, a USB cable, and three memory chips. Looks like this pokémon knows what he's doing. I retrieved the items before he began talking again. "If you ever come back don't you ever pull a stupid trick on me like that ever again!" Riolu recited with some emotion telling me the aipom was mad.

He then handed me the few-thousand-dollar camera, and I handed him the six quarters he wanted which concluded the "fair" transaction. Aipom then started yelling again. Before Riolu could translate it however her jaw had dropped, and then her eyes started showing signs of anger. She balled up her fists to prove it. Not only that, but Ralts had her head down with her eyes tearing up so I was starting to get a little worried.

"You know better than to talk about us that way! I don't care what you say about me, but if you talk about my friends!"

Aipom got scared and rushed to the back of the booth hiding behind several other merchandises. Riolu was about to pounce at him before I quickly grabbed her. She was struggling really hard to break free from my arms and beat the crap out of Aipom, and she probably could've jumped over the counter with me dragging behind if she really wanted.

"No, Riolu! We might get in big trouble!" I struggled.

Aipom was curled up in the corner. Riolu stopped squirming eventually so I released her from my hold. Wow, she's strong! Her strength completely contradicts her timid personality. After getting a breather we both turned around to see Ralts on her knees sobbing with her hands planted on her face which puzzled a few passing pokémon. Now I know why Riolu got angry. It's because he said something bad about Ralts, Riolu, and probably me too.

"I don't know what you said, but it sure did hurt Ralts' feelings. Don't bully this pokémon!" Aipom just looked up at me while shuddering. I then looked at Ralts and tried to cheer her up. "Come on, let's go Ralts." I took her hand and walked away from the store followed by Riolu as we began walking back home.

"Whatever Aipom said he didn't mean it. It's okay; please don't be sad," I soothed stroking her back as we walked.

"No… he did mean it," Ralts replied softly almost like a whisper, "Everyone thinks that because I only have one horn means I'm weak and worthless." Her sadness started streaming down her face again.

"That's not true! I know you're way better than those other stupid pokémon. You are an awesome pokémon with a nice heart because you like me now and trust me even though I'm human. I never knew pokémon could be so mean though! Does everyone think that?"

"No, but there are still these other pokémon that make fun of us, and Aipom is one of them," Riolu explained with a low expression as well, "I'm also made fun of because they think I'm weak for being with Ralts. I don't care if I'm made fun of, but if they drag Ralts into the conversation it just makes me angry. Aipom even made fun of you too just for being human with no family of your own. But I know that's not true… You have us."

I got pretty annoyed myself hearing about Aipom bringing up that I have no family. Let's see him get his whole family killed in front of his own eyes and see how he likes it. "I know I have a new family now, and I love my new family."

"I'm so sorry for the way I was acting towards you last night and earlier today Rayn," Ralts suddenly sobbed, "I now clearly see that you're different from humans and these other pokémon around here. I'm so sorry for being scared of you and even threatening you last night. Riolu is right, you have us now."

Wow, Ralts definitely trusts me now… "Aww, it's okay Ralts. I'm not surprised that you were scared of me earlier so it's okay."

"I'm also sorry for being scared of you last night too," Riolu added.

"It's okay guys, it's okay really I forgive you," I chuckled.

After we all smiled and felt better I forgot I had been gripping something firm the entire "Oh yeah, this is for you Ralts, so both of you guys can use it. My mom always said it keeps cherished memories forever, so take pictures of things you enjoy most," I smiled.

Ralts took the camera while I placed the accessories in my pocket. To my amazement, Ralts found out how to turn it on. The lens extended and Ralts began aiming the device around observing the digital screen. She aimed it at Riolu who hid right behind my legs in response which caused me to stop in my tracks. A blinding flash went off stunning me a bit. She showed the result of the picture to us. I saw a slightly tan boy with short black shaved hair, light baked brown eyes, who was wearing wrinkled clothes with a cute Riolu peaking around my legs in curiosity within the screen. Then she took the camera in one of her hands, turned around, and aimed the camera back towards her face with Riolu and me in the background before clicking the button. Ralts is already learning how to use this camera very well since the resulting picture of all of us turned out very well. She then began rapidly clicking on the button with all three of us still in the frame constantly blinding us.

"Wait, you can probably take a few pictures at once. You must've taken like over ten pictures just now within two seconds."

"You did say take pictures of things you enjoy most." I t was my turn to blush at that point. "Thank you so much, Rayn."

Things she enjoys… that means she must really enjoy my company then. Ralts, finally cheered up, placed the strap of the camera around her neck. Riolu was also happy and she walked over to Ralts to play with the camera. We walked back home to see if Gardevoir had the picnic she was talking about this morning ready to go. We arrived in the residential part of the village to find our home. Before we spotted it however, three nidoran approached us. One of the three was light blue colored which made me believe it was female. The largest one located in the middle of the group started speaking.

After hearing a bunch of "nidos" and "rans" I started asking Riolu to translate. "Okay, what is he saying?" I didn't get a response. Looking at Riolu she had an angry glare towards the nidoran. Looking at Ralts on the other side of me, she wasn't sad but also angry as well. More bullies…

"They're talking about you, Rayn. I'm seriously close to beating the crap out of all three of them. I'm finally sick and tired of their crap!" she growled lowly packed with an intimidating tone I never knew would exist in her.

All three began taunting us as I just stood there completely intimidated about this situation.

"I'm done… I'm done with getting picked on by you three!" Ralts had some real anger in her telepathic tone. Oh no, I hope no one starts fighting right now… I won't be able to stop anyone this time.

The nidos laughed and then began asking for a fight. I know this because the female nidoran started staring down Ralts face to face.

"We're going to beat your ass. That's what I'm gonna do for sure," Riolu argued and Ralts joined in as well completely frightening me with the shear anger that was forming.

I never knew Ralts would ever talk like that. I mean she was always the more cautious one while Riolu was shyer but tougher. I don't even know what to say because I don't even know what the nidoran are saying. One of the nidoran got in front of me. Does he want to fight three on three? I have never fought anyone before, and I care about pokémon too much for me to harm one unless if it was a professional pokémon battle, but even if it was harming me I couldn't hurt it back. I just can't. I saw a few pokémon stop to look at all of. Some of them went off hopefully to warn someone about the situation.

"Stop, le-let's talk about this!" I suggested a little shakily, "Why do you nidoran pick on these girls so much?"

The bigger nidoran answered my question even though I didn't get any of the words.

"He said because we are worthless, and now that you're with us, three's a company; a worthless company." She finished translating and then began arguing again. "Well we aren't worthless. It's them that are worthless! All they do is tease for their entertainment!"

"Wow, you three are just bad. There isn't a need for a fight. Riolu and Ralts never did anything wrong to you guys."

The nidoran started laughing before speaking again. The larger nidoran walked up to me and communicated with me, but before I could respond he pounced towards my stomach too fast for me to react knocking me on the ground. Winded and on the ground I gripped my stomach barely able to breathe almost so hurt I nearly cried. He just used Tackle on me and his horn doesn't help alleviate the pain.

Finally feeling the pain spike into searing burns around my abdomen I let out an ear-splitting scream. I looked down and saw a small but burning wound right on my stomach which was inflicted by his poisonous horn. I lifted up my hand from under my shirt and was horrified to see some blood on my palm. After squeezing my eyes shut from the excruciating pain and sitting up recovering enough only to groan, Riolu ran at a very high speed towards the nidoran that attacked me and delivered a quick attack with her swinging fist. The attack knocked him back several yards slamming him into a nearby tree. I set my sights on Ralts who used Confuse on the female nidoran then hit her with her small hands but it was hard enough to knock the staggering nidoran on the ground. The last nidoran standing was surprised by a thrust from Riolu's paw slamming directly into his face with blue flames discharging from the impact causing the nidoran to fly into his sister nidoran. Wow, she can use Force Palm too! I slowly stumbled up to my feet trying to ignore the pain I felt. I was about to stop this battle but someone beat me to it. A large purple nidoking and Lucario separated the fight. Both moved the three nidoran, which were all getting up, while Lucario stopped Ralts but struggled to keep his daughter under control. The Nidoking roared angrily at the three nidoran, which must've been his offspring.

"Come on. We gotta get you to Gardevoir before the poison spreads," Lucario suggested.

I nodded letting Lucario help me back home with Riolu and Ralts next to him. Within a minute we were inside the home. I lied down on my bed after Lucario informed me he was going to get Gardevoir's help. Less than a minute later Gardevoir and Celsius entered my room, and gasped as they saw the wound on my stomach.

"What happened to you!" She took a look at the wound before pulling in a chair next to my bed. "This is not deep at all but you got poisoned by toxic. Look straight up for me and take a deep breath." I did as she told. "Release your breath when I say 'now'. Now!" I exhaled then suddenly grunted a little as I felt pincer pressure against the area I was stabbed. I stayed strong though trying to stare at a spot on the ceiling.

"Gah, I should've been there to protect you! I'm so sorry this happened to you, Master. I hate seeing you hurt like this. I screwed up as your pokémon." Celsius hung her head low and just stared at the ground.

"No, it's not your fault Celsius. You didn't even know. It's okay I'm fine," I tried to cheer her up.

"Still, I should've just gone with you…" Her eyes really began to glisten showing her upset state.

"You don't have to protect me to be my pokémon, Celsius. You know I still love you."

Gardevoir's hands glowed turquoise in color above my wound. "So I heard by Ralts. She told me a little bit about what happened to you three." As she moved her hands around above my wound the pain ceased, and to my surprise the wound started closing. As the wound got smaller before my very eyes she applied some aloe to that area. "So you bought my daughter a… camera?"

"Yeah, she liked it a lot so I just traded some human money for it," I smiled.

"Aww, that's very sweet and affectionate of you to do so. I can tell she really loves the gift." The wound began to close shut with a large scab around the cut. After treating my wound she continuously moved her hand, which was still glowing, around my abdomen.

"All the poison is gone now. I'm going to have to talk to their parents… again. Some conflict always happens between them but Riolu has never fought Nidoran and his siblings before; nor has Ralts," she sighed

"Maybe they just got tired of their words and finally did something about it. Fighting is still bad though." Actually I do believe that fighting is the best thing to do for self defense, but I didn't want to say anything bad.

"Actually fighting is good only if your opponent throws the first hit, and I won't get mad if Riolu wins the fight which is what Ralts and Riolu both did," Lucario interjected walking into the room, "Nidoran attacked you so Riolu lost her temper and protected you."

"Yes, but I never knew Ralts could be that aggressive. She only has one psychic fin which is only part of a Ralts' power," Gardevoir protested.

"But she was within appropriate range to use a physic type attack. With just one fin she can use powers if an opponent is not that far off."

I stood up looking at both Gardevoir and Lucario. "Nidoran shouldn't be bullying Ralts anymore and that's all that matters, right. Now she proved to them that she's not weak," I added.

"Absolutely," Lucario smiled followed by Gardevoir moments later.

Knowing that I'm fully healed, we walked out of the room to see Ralts and Riolu both sitting down in the living room. Both of them had their heads down as if they were anxiously waiting for punishment.

"You two aren't in trouble," Lucario wholeheartedly laughed from the sight of the two as they sulked in shame, "Nidoran shouldn't be hurting you two anymore, especially after what my little cub just did."

"Well maybe they deserved it. They've been tormenting Ralts and me for too long, and now they bring in Rayn. It hurts too much, and I'm very sorry that they hurt you Rayn."

"Don't worry; they shouldn't be hurting us anymore. That was so cool what you two did to them!"

"Okay let's not talk about it anymore. It just makes me want to confront their parents more than ever. Lucario and I are going to talk to them right now," Gardevoir finished.

After they left Riolu, Ralts, Celsius, and I found the food for the picnic on the counter was already packed and ready to go. "So where is the picnic going to be at?" I asked.

"The Flower Field," Ralts answered joyfully.

"What's that?"

"It's where you go to relax in the great smell of the flowers… in the field," she answered the obvious.

"Just like the name says, sounds like a cheesy place to me," Celsius replied.

"Celsius, that was rude," I shunned.

"I'm sorry master, but a flower field isn't really my kind of place to relax," she complained.

True, Celsius all of her life never enjoyed anything feminine, but that doesn't mean Celsius isn't sensitive at times. "Well that is where the picnic is going to be, so try to have fun, please. It's the least we can do to say thanks for giving us a home," I convinced.

She agreed with me since they were taking care of us. There were two light brown woven baskets and a small green blanket that was also hand stitched. Celsius was too small to carry anything, so I carried the two baskets while Riolu insisted on carrying the blanket.

We followed Ralts out of the back of the home as she skipped dragging her robe leading us along the way. Next to the lake was a path that was made of short grass bordered by bushes and other vegetation. We walked for about two minutes traversing through the vegetation before we arrived shortly at a large clearing literally covered entirely by flowers of all colors. A tall oak tree in the clearing complemented the view. Wow, you would never find places as tranquil as this in human civilization. We set up the picnic under the large shade of the tree laying the green blanket down before I placed the baskets on top.

"Let's go back and wait for those two to come back," I suggested.

"No, they know that we set up the picnic. Father can read the aura that stores thoughts so he should know that we're out here."

I found that pretty interesting knowing that my mind can probably be read almost at anytime. Then again Gardevoir is a psychic type so she can read my mind also. The four of us sat there and waited in silence. The only sound was the warm, fresh breeze rustling the leaves above us. I looked onward and there were flowers of all colors as far as the eye can see. The petals full of different pigments brightened the horizon in the distance even though I did faintly see the border of the surrounding forest far ahead. Yep, nature's canvas lies underneath us right now.

"You guys seem pretty quiet," I broke the long science.

"Oh, it's nothing," all three answered almost simultaneously. I didn't expect Celsius to contribute in unison.

Riolu and Ralts seemed a bit reclusive about something. I saw that kept Celsius oddly shooting them an intimidating glare at the two of them for some reason. Ignoring it, I lied on the grass which cushioned my back in a soft green envelope around me. I shut my eyes from the sun light before I was all of a sudden blinded by an immediate flash. I looked at Ralts with her camera drawn up.

"Sorry, you did say take pictures of things you enjoy most right?" Ralts and Riolu took a look at the picture of me probably lying down with my eyes closed. They both began to giggle to themselves.

Wow, I guess I've definitely made some improvement with bonding with them. "So now you two enjoy me being around you guys?" I asked just to make sure. I saw Celsius sharpen her glare at them though.

"Yeah, and I think Riolu enjoys you a whole, whole lot, right Riolu," Ralts asked with a playful tone.

"Huh… wh-what do mean," Riolu responded very quickly sounding nervous.

"You know what I mean, you told me this morning when we were bathing, remember…" Ralts added continuing to use that same tone which caused me to feel out of place. What is she talking about?

"What! Don't you dare-"

"Raaaaayn," she called out to me while trailing my name and giggling.

"Don't!" Riolu interrupted.

"Riolu has a very big secret," she told me slowly while using her teasing telepathic voice.

"Don't do it!" Riolu and even Celsius told too in unison. Now I really wanted to know this secret.

"Riolu li-" before Ralts could finish though both Celsius and Riolu held there paw or talon foot up to her mouth to stop her talking. "Uh, I'm using telepathy…" I heard her say which shocked the two females around her, "I was only just kidding anyways, Riolu!" Ralts giggled.

"Hold on," Celsius squawked while lowering her foot.

The three turned around and started whispering to each other in a small huddle. What were they talking about, and more importantly what was Ralts going to say to me?

"It's just forbidden okay!" Celsius blurted out a few seconds after they turned around.

"What's forbidden?" I asked since that was the only thing I heard in their conversation causing Celsius to jump and turn towards me. Before any responded, we heard Lucario and Gardevoir approaching behind us.

"Okay, Nidoran is definitely not going to bother you three anymore," Lucario reassured.

"Probably because Riolu and Ralts showed them that they were tired of their words," I added.

Lucario laughed at that comment, but Gardevoir wasn't too happy about the fight at all. The two took a seat on the blanket and I sat up while the three females turned around. Gardevoir opened the baskets which revealed fresh berries and fruits, six sandwiches with actually sliced bread preserved with a giant leaf wrapped around them, and some berry juice in small wooden cups! Gardevoir took out all the nourishments and placed them in six different spots for each of us. We each took a seat in front of one of the spots, and I began eating the sandwich finding it to be unexpectedly good. There wasn't any sauce since pokémon can't make condiments, I think; if they know how to make or get bread then who knows what other things they can make.

"So how did you get that body-I-I mean what do you do to stay in shape?" Riolu asked.

"It was a routine where I worked my butt off for four to six hours a day. Every day I would go to school which is a place where humans go to learn about the basics of… everything, and school lasts from the age of five to ten."

Everyone only goes to school for six years and learn ABC's and 1 2 3's to Classic and Modern Literature and Trigonometry within only six years before they're given the choice to either become a pokémon trainer, go to college, or live with their parents. That's the normal schooling for most students. Sometimes people would either quit or graduate early. First year is elementary, second is middle school, third is freshman, fourth is sophomore, fifth is junior, and the last is senior at the age of ten which is optional.

"I was a freshman and I was in a football youth league, which is a very hard sport to participate in. So I worked out five days a week during practice, then I would go home train with my dad on more physical conditioning, and then I would train Celsius and Lithium for fun and they loved it. Before bed I would do fifteen pushups and fifteen sit ups. And a couple days a week I would also go to jiu jitsu training after school."

"You know jiu jitsu?" Lucario questioned.

"Just around ten lessons. I had planned on learning all of them within three years."

"Really, I bet that if you trained with Riolu and me each morning you would be better than all of your trainers back at that gym within only a year. Just give me a little less than a year and I can make you master that form."

"Less than a year, that seems a bit fast! My trainers actually snapped bones, knocked out people from blood constrictions, and some of the students from other fighting classes did all sorts of cool tricks where they would like jump and flip around and spin kick people-it was really cool but looks so hard."

"Spins and kicks… you mean like this?" Lucario got up and began getting in a pose that involved doing a right leg lunge and stretching out his right arm above his right leg while folding his left arm in a right angle with his paw above his head. It was like he was posing in a martial arts stance. He inhaled and exhaled slowly. A moment later he suddenly jumped up high into the air turning his body level to the ground in mid air so that it looked like he was lying in midair. Then he began spinning while spanning his limbs out while still horizontally floating in the air. Finally after countless barrel rolls, he perfectly landed back softly in his "kung fu" pose. "Like that? So just pretend that there were opponents all around me, for if there was then my feet and paws would've struck them all knocking them out. I don't learn these moves just to show off. What about this one?"

He abruptly darted full speed towards the tree behind us then literally ran up the trunk; just like running up a wall. He ran almost complete underneath the lowest branch where he started kicking rapidly at the base from underneath and then used his last kick to spring away from the branch. While flying down I saw within a fraction of a second that he tucked in his arms and spiraled in mid air towards the ground. Before making contact he put his arms out to catch himself on his feet landing perfectly low and sprawled on all fours, and then he twirled around planting his foot on the ground while facing the tree.

"Pretend that was a giant pokémon and that branch was its chin. That can cause a lot of damage, and I know I can teach you how to do that within a year and much more moves and techniques. Since you are in shape and know a little bit about jiu jitsu it should be easy."

Everyone, including Riolu her own daughter, was shocked at what they just saw. He just did a wicked flip in the air; he just did several wicked flips in the air. That looked so impossible to do, but he did it with ease and he really thinks I can do that?

"Way to show off, Lucario," Gardevoir giggled after the initial shock.

"Now I have never seen any of my trainers do that before… but you're a pokémon fighter type and I don't think I can do that within a year. That just looks too hard for me to do something as… intricate ever."

"A fighter type is just like any human who fights professionally for a living, except without powers."

"But-"

"Trust me, Rayn. I can literally see it with my very own reader eyes that you are more than capable of completing that trick." Celsius and Gardevoir both gave him and me a worried look. "I want you to forget absolutely everything you have learned about fighting because I can teach new and better techniques, but I only train early in the morning two to three hours a day."

"Um… wh-who will wake me up?"

"Riolu will get you. We do more than fighting in practice. We also do a lot of endurance runs to condition the body," he smiled.

"I guess that sounds…good. We did similar stuff in football…I think."

Lucario looked as if he had "perfect" written on his face from the devious smile he just made.

"Anyways, so you exercised every day basically?" Riolu concluded.

"Yeah, basically."

"Ooh, can I please exercise with you guys in the morning too then?" Ralts asked while jumping up to get our attention, "I want to learn self defense too!"

"I don't know if you can even handle it, no offense, but it's because I've always hated conditioning," I added.

"I don't care because I want to be strong and fit just like you and Riolu one day."

"Then all you got to do is when you get up from bed in the morning do ten, fifteen, maybe even twenty pushups and sit ups. Then when you feel that number is too easy just move it up by intervals of five. That's what my dad told me. Then run a mile or two in the morning. My dad ran in the morning but I never did."

"I'll…I'll just do all of those things when you do it," she chuckled nervously.

"I don't even know if I'm okay with you getting up that early just to exercise, Darling," Gardevoir sighed with worry in her voice.

"She can handle it once we start slow with her. We'll start slow with Rayn too. She can even learn new powers from this training," Lucario reassured.

"Yes, so please mommy. I want to stay in shape too."

"You're not even out of shape! But I guess it's really not up to me if you want to become knowledgeable in self defense. You can train with them only if you are okay with that," Gardevoir answered.

"I'm just skinny, and I want a little bit of muscle."

Lucario and I laughed from hearing that. It just sounded too cute how she said that. He seemed to be happy about having new students for his training. I was getting excited myself because I like learn how to defend myself, but not the conditioning part.

After we talked Riolu, Ralts, including Celsius, and I played around in the Flower Field. Honestly I actually found it entertaining. It was still fun playing with Ralts, and Riolu. All we really did was chase down each other and climb the tree. Even Celsius participated with us and based off her chirps and cries she was having a good time. When we finally became tired Ralts, Riolu, Celsius, and I relaxed under the tree while Lucario and Gardevoir went inside. They told us that curfew was when the sun had set below the horizon. At this time of year it was fall so the sun would go down a lot sooner than normal. I can't even tell time over here unless if Aipom had an accurate, solar powered watch that was already set for me to by with two dimes or something. For the remainder of the time we were in the field, we just lied down near the tree and let the sweet smell of the flowers relax our minds.

The sun finally set so Ralts, Celsius and I went home while Riolu was going to her own, but in Ralts' home Lucario and Gardevoir was already sitting in the living room appearing to be waiting for our arrival. I got Riolu before she went too far off to warn her that her dad was with us. She and I came back so all of us were in the living room.

"We need to talk." Lucario had a serious look on his face causing me to think I did something bad.

"Okay about what," I tried to calmly ask.

"No, we mean only Ralts and Riolu because this is uh… parent cub talk."

"Wait, uh… when do humans normally hit their maturing age?" Gardevoir asked me.

"What?" I didn't know what she was talking about until Celsius answered for me.

"Not for another five to six years for him. He won't know what you guys will be talking about, so we'll leave you four alone."

Celsius and I walked back to my room to leave them to talk. It was awkward being stuck in the middle of the living room with a bunch of serious faces anyways. Once I got back to my room I just took a seat on my bed.

"Okay, since I'm here I might as well check how much money I have left."

"Why? It's useless here."

"Actually the coins are worth more here. That camera I bought for Ralts is supposed to be over a thousand for humans when I actually just paid him a dollar fifty for it with quarters."

Celsius was very amused with that. "You ripped him off badly," Celsius laughed out, "You need to find more quarters fast then."

"I still got a lot more too," I laughed. We both began cracking up at that comment. I'm basically rich over here. "So what do you think they're talking about right now?"

"Oh just a certain part of life where you start… let's just say growing up," Celsius answered. "Kind of awkward for us to be arriving here at that time," she whispered to her self.

"So they must be getting new powers."

"Uh no, it's not powers I can tell you that."

"Well than what is it."

"When you're older I'll explain it."

I gave up on trying to find out what they really would get. "I need to wash up. I always took a shower in the morning and at night, but now I have to do it at the lake every morning and night."

"Just wait for them to finish there little talk first."

I agreed while Celsius began leaving the room. "Wait, where are you going?" I exclaimed.

"I'm going out there because I'm a fully mature Torchic so it's okay for me. Just stay here."

That doesn't make any sense! However, I did as she told since I didn't want to be rude. Looking back to my first day here it was actually fun. Besides getting stabbed by a nidoran it was really cool here, and it shouldn't even be happening anymore. I reminisced about this day for about ten more minutes before Celsius finally came in and told me I was clear to go into the living room. I just wanted to go through the back door through the living room so I can bathe in the lake before I go to sleep.

Once I was out there I stripped down and took a step in the lake shore seeing that no one was around. I walked into the water without creating any noise to wake up any other pokémon. Surprisingly the water was still quite warm, wow. Once I was in I soaked my body and relaxed against a small wall surrounding the lake; my back facing the home. I relaxed in the water until I heard a little bit of rustling in the bushes around me. I ignored it until I started hearing it again.

I stood up from the shallow water and turned around looking through the bushes. "Who's…who's over there?" There wasn't a response, but before I sunk back in the water I was blinded by a familiar light. If that was what I thought it was, then Ralts just took a picture of me standing up with the water to my knees fully naked.

"RALTS!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. Still looking I saw another flash but it was dimmer this time. That's when I saw something black with bright yellow rings illuminate past the vegetation. The yellow circles kept flashing to intimidate whatever it was chasing as it deeper into the dense forest. Oh, woops. "Just…just an umbreon. Okay, phew-wait, an umbreon! Holy sh-" I placed my hand over mouth to stop myself from slipping a curse word. "That's…so…awesome! They are so rare too!"

**(POV)**

"Hope my plan worked," I whispered taking a peak at Rayn one last time before he sunk back in.

"It did look," Riolu pointed to Rayn who was still looking at the umbreon.

While Rayn is bathing I thought we should probably spy on him. I saw Umbreon so I knew he was going to start glowing, so that's when I took the picture of Rayn. My plan worked! He did think it was Umbreon. I started to giggle to myself from this thought. This picture is perfect. I got his whole body.

"What are you two doing out here?"

I froze for a second and both Riolu and I slowly turned around to find Celsius giving us a serious glare. She knows what we were just doing?

"Didn't we talk about this at the Flower Field?" Celsius continued.

"I'm sorry, but I can't help it!" I yelled.

"Me neither. I want to see him umm… down-"

"Look I know how you two feel," the torchic sympathized, "But right now I can tell that you two are trying to tell if it's really love… or just a sinful emotion called lust.

"Lust?" We both asked in unison then looked at each other with clueless features on our faces.

"Yeah, it's when you just want his body and nothing more from him. Especially since you two only want him because of young curiosity. You two do know he's my master right? He took care of me my whole life from me hatching to us escaping. I was born a year after him on the same birth date; right after my breeder gave his dad the egg that I was in. So I love him and I have always loved him. I doubt that you two even feel that way for him, and you two just met him. That's not love, girls," she chuckled at the end.

"He's the first male that ever cared about us or was nice to us other than my father. I do love him," Riolu admitted.

"How cute, young love," she said sarcastically, "No, I'm sure that that's lust you two are feeling when you think about him because it's your first emotional experience of love. If I'm correct you were scared of him last night until you searched his past. You expect me to believe that you two love him after just talking to him for a day. It's actually a crush that you two are experiencing, there's a difference between them but you young females don't know it and let alone care," she snickered, "There's no such thing as love at first sight."

"Not uh, I-we do love him! I know I love him because ralts, kirlia, and gardevoir naturally know who their mates are when they see it first sight. We are sensitive to emotion, so I can tell who my true love is just by looking. Mommy described the feeling to me earlier today. I feel it when I look at Rayn. How can you say you love him and not believe in love at first sight," I yelled back.

"That's hard to believe that gardevoir have that emotional sense, and besides he's only seven now meaning his body has not grown fully so you two can't 'want' him. It's almost impossible and meaningless. He won't hit maturity until he's around twelve, thirteenish, so he might get confused. Pokémon can't understand that because we all mature when we're just one human years old. Oh, and it took a while to convince myself that I truly have feelings for him; a long, long time."

"I can wait five years," I quickly blurted out.

"From the way you gazed at him this morning, I don't think so. Look, I know you two just got done talking about the flyers and the combees with your mom and dad, so you two are probably curious."

"Yes, you got us. We admit it, but I still love him," I answered hoping to admit whatever she's thinking so she can leave us alone.

"It's okay. He'll start growing when he gets older mentally and physically, if you know what I mean," she giggled, "But most importantly Rayn is a human and we're pokémon. Humans find pokémon to human relationships a taboo. It's illegal. They think it's bad while we still think it's completely natural. Humans are too blind to see what love really is now. Damn media…"

"But it's actually natural, I've heard stories before from others," Riolu pointed out.

"Only natural to us, but not to them. It has always been natural for humans and pokémon since the beginning of time to be together in a loving mate relationship, but long ago humans started to think it was bad. They still think we're different." Looking at the picture of Rayn I took a moment ago I couldn't believe that humans think that we can't be together. "I'm sorry but you have to accept that fact."

"I guess you're right." I winked at Riolu without Celsius knowing to show her that I think Celsius is wrong just so she can leave.

Celsius began to turn around and walk back towards the home. "Perfect, more of him for me then. I've never liked sharing; especially if it's my master," Celsius whispered to herself in triumph.

"Her, I can see through your mind Celsius!" Riolu blurted out.

"Sorry, but I don't want to confuse Rayn," she twisted around, "I can wait 'till he hits maturity. I guess I'll be okay with you two always spying on him, but don't try anything funny, or I'll lose my fiery temper and take it out on both of you!" she growled lowly.

Neither Riolu nor I flinched. I love him and I know it. So does Riolu and apparently so does Celsius. Riolu maybe a good friend of mine, but I might also have to stop her if I have to. I just hope Rayn will stay for five more long years. There shouldn't be any kind of force that'll split us apart…

To Be Continued

I hope you all understand how the education system works in this story universe since it was pretty hard to describe. Now sorry to some since I normally don't do corny "love at first sight" like this, but I hope I gave a clear explanation for it. But if you didn't mind then cool. It's hard to tell if I do stuff right without feedback, and usually if I don't get any feedback I just think something is wrong because this story is boring and or clichéd.

Anyways, go forth and review/comment, or move on to the next story on this website to read. Either way, it's up to you, the reader.

Mother Shaymin = Mother Nature


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Abducted or Adopted

The next morning I was very excited. Yesterday Lucario said he can train me in the arts of jujutsu which I already enjoy learning. Celsius can join in and learn a few things, and Ralts is participating too. But why would Ralts want to join in this training all of a sudden when she's lived here for a long time. Maybe it's Celsius and me inspiring her?

Riolu woke us all up which neither of us enjoyed but I know if I were to train with Lucario then I have to do some hard tasks. The horizon in the distance was still a dark burgundy mixing with the cobalt blue directly above us in parallel streams of lava orange. That clearly told me it's very early… We all followed Riolu to the lake. Riolu began to stretch once we reached the lake so I set Celsius down and followed along with Riolu. Ralts didn't have a clue about what we were doing.

"So how was your sleep?" Ralts asked.

"What did you just say?" Riolu snarled, "You don't ask questions that are off topic when we are practicing, do you understand me! Don't let a distraction get to you ever, so don't talk to Rayn unless I say so! This is a time for work and it began once we started stretching!" I froze and stopped in the position I was stretching in with my eyes and mouth gaping as Riolu surprised both Ralts and I by showing authority in a very intimidating demanding tone. I would've never thought she would ever do that. I mean for the past two days she's been nothing but timid in attitude.

"What has gotten in to you! Why are you calling Rayn a distraction?" Ralts argued back.

"Don't argue with me! You both will listen to my father and me and show respect, referring us as 'yes sir' or 'yes ma'am'! If you don't know which is which then look in between the legs, got it!"

"Yes ma'am," I answered already breaking a sweat. Where in the world did she learn to talk like that?

"What is going on with you! I never knew you were like this before!" Ralts protested.

Riolu put her paw on her own face in what looked liked embarrassment. "I'm just trying to show authority. I'm not being serious. Please don't take me seriously, okay." Riolu explained her role to Ralts in her normal young girl's tone before getting back to her intimidating one.

Ralts blushed from the awkwardness. Celsius didn't even budge from all of the yelling. To get her up I put two of my fingers in the sides of my mouth and blew out hard. The deafening high pitch whistle startled Celsius to her feet. She stood up as straight as a Torchic could and waited for my further orders. That's how I normally get her attention since I learned that trick from my dad. Riolu ran up to her and bent over to scream in her ear.

"You need to learn how to wake up when you're called for! Don't be a lazy, half ass pokémon! You must respect me and follow my orders as I say!"

Celsius slowly turned and glared at her. "The fuck, I don't know what has gotten into you, but don't you ever scream at me like that again!"

"That was the first time I heard Riolu say a bad word…" Ralts commenting while trembling a little from the intimidation.

"Celsius! You must do as she says because she is going to train all three of us, so you will show her respect!" I sternly yelled at Celsius to get her to listen.

"Oh, my apologies, 'ma'am'." Celsius seemed to be annoyed about Riolu taking charge which I clearly saw as she mocked the word "ma'am".

Celsius awaited further orders while Riolu and I taught Ralts the proper way to stretch which wasn't hard. Five minutes later Lucario arrived and began to stretch as well.

"Do two laps around the lake," he ordered us as he stretched his ankles. Two laps around the lake didn't seem too bad at first, but when I noticed the size of the entire lake I knew I was going to hate this. Did I forget to mention that the lake is about a football field and a half long while it's a foot ball field wide? That's about 500 yards all around the lake. So two laps around is over half a mile. In football practice we never ran a mile since that's only for seniors or just plain varsity players. "Everyone has to do it including Ralts and Celsius. Size or shape doesn't matter just as long as you get it done," Lucario added.

I never made Celsius run that long before when I trained her, but Lucario should know best since he's a pokémon.

"I don't know if I can run. I mean my robe won't help me run at all," Ralts complained.

"Then levitate off the ground just a few inches. That will improve your psychic abilities very well by increasing your endurance in the ability's usage."

Ralts agreed with Lucario, so we began to jog around the lake. Riolu was leading the pack giving us side orders like shuffle sideways, skipping forward, or karaoke shuffle, which is like shuffling but crossing your back leg in front and behind.

"Reach for the sky!"

After saying that she leapt was five feet in the air! The highest I jumped was about half a foot since we were alternating between jogging and jumping. If a normal Riolu can do that then Riolu here would probably smoke me in a race; I can't imagine how fast Lucario is if his legs are strong as well. I looked behind me, and Ralts used her psychic powers to launch herself into the air while Celsius was struggling to even get off the ground, let alone keep up with us. Ralts and Celsius were running out of breath as they tried to keep up, and I had to admit that I was as well.

"Don't start walking, keep jogging!" Riolu commanded.

After we were half way done on our last lap I started to lose my breath. The whole time we ran Riolu ordered us to shuffle our legs, run backwards, crouch while moving our legs, or so on. I never knew females could be so athletic and not complain about running or hardcore exercise, but then again these are pokémon.

We finally got done with our laps. Celsius and Ralts were out of breath while Riolu panted a few times but I was in the worst condition. I actually began wheezing since I kept running but I couldn't stop since I didn't want to show anyone here any weakness or the will to give up. My chest was compressed tightly, and it hurt around there and every time I took a breath it felt like the air was going somewhere else but my lungs. Compared to football practice, that was much more running for a warm up. Ralts bent over placing her hands on her knees from being too exhausted while Celsius fell on her butt.

"Get up straight!" Lucario sternly ordered us. I tried standing up but only got up onto my knees as I clasped my chest. That's when Lucario walked over to me. "What's wrong, Rayn?" He began scanning my chest which I had my hand over as I still kept wheezing while trying to control my breathing. "Asthma attack eh."

I nodded but I didn't want to admit that I have heat induced asthma, however I was in too much pain to ignore this; especially since I don't have an inhaler… oh crap, how am I going to regain control? Now I was starting to tear up from the fear of passing out on the spot, but I didn't want to cry in front of him. I looked at Lucario and I saw that one of his paws was encircled by an almost dark blue veil of cloud-like, free flowing material. It was definitely his aura, and he placed that hand on my chest but right below my neck and began putting slight pressure in that area. Through the tears in my eyes I saw the aura literally move to cover and blanket around my chest and shoulders. That's when I instantly felt relief. My chest stopped compressing which stopped the pain, and I could finally breathe properly. I took in deep breathes while I slowly got up and placed my hands on the top of my head to open my wind pipe more. Wow, Lucario's aura did that?

"You're in safe hands now," he told me as I was still taking in air. "Welcome new comers to my training course," he announced to everyone while pacing in front of all of us, "Where I teach discipline, respect, and self respect. I'm also going to teach you how to fight in close combat, counter a few weapons including human guns, how to use the environment around you to your advantage, and of course those moves I showed everyone yesterday." Lucario looked at all four of us before continuing his speech. "You all enjoyed those acrobatic kicks I did yesterday I can tell. Well don't worry because I guaranty you, Rayn, that you will learn it within a year, but the rest of you, except Riolu, are going to have to evolve first. Ralts I know with your feminine appearance that you may not learn everything I teach here. Celsius, since right now you only have your feet I can only teach you tae kwon do. My most preferred style of martial arts is ninjutsu and capoeira for striking and jujutsu for takedowns since it can be used on armed or armored opponents without a weapon, and each of you will learn those fighting styles once you have evolved. By the end of the training you'll know how to leap off trees without making any noise or breaking your legs, fight multiple targets, and most important of all be disciplined."

"Good because I have some experience in jujutsu, it's fun." I commented.

"Then forget everything you have learned because my way of teaching is much faster and more affective."

"Yes sir! I can't wait to get started," I yelled. Even though I showed great enthusiasm I was still worried about if he was right about me learning all of this within a year. He may possibly try to train me in four fighting styles but it takes three years, if you're good, just to master jujutsu alone. Is this even possible or is he actually just full of himself?

"For Rayn, I shall teach you everything I know about combat and survival; everything I absolutely know." After hearing that it felt like I was being trained for the military. "For Ralts, I can teach you just jujutsu because your size can become a huge advantage when using this fighting style; once evolved I'll possibly teach you ninjutsu. Jujutsu normally uses grappling which can defeat an opponent bigger and stronger than you. It wouldn't matter how small you are this fighting style is perfect for you as long as I also teach you a few basic striking moves; it's perfect for all of you. For Celsius, I'll teach tae kwon do like I mentioned earlier. Since your final evolution form is a Blaziken, which mainly uses legs, this fighting style will be more than enough to help you, and once you have evolved into a combusken I'll also teach you everything I know about combat."

"And I'm going to help you all out," Riolu added.

"I'll train Rayn while Riolu trains both Celsius and Ralts. Riolu can only train one of you at a time so you'll rotate in15 minute intervals. Between those 15 minutes, the one who is not being trained will either do push ups, crunches, sit ups, or running. Each day we meet out here to train for three hours a day, understand?"

"Yes sir!" Celsius and I yelled out in unison while Ralts said it a few seconds after us from the confusion.

We separated into two groups. Through out practice I trained with Lucario while Celsius and Ralts trained with Riolu. Whenever Ralts was trained Celsius jogged around the lake, and whenever Celsius was trained Ralts did crunches I noticed while glancing at them every once in a while.

I stayed with Lucario the whole time. He first taught me the main fundamentals of fighting. The most important thing he said is "stamina is most important because if you get tired you get beat." But also, he said stuff like "if an opponent's attack is too fast then block it since it's not in full power, if it's slow enough then dodge it, or if it's a slow open attack then counter him"; just the basics of combat really.

"Practice your Feraligatr Movements for another 45 seconds and after that drop down and give me 25 push ups."

Using my arms, I supported myself on the ground while I used my feet to spin around which wore my arms out enough. He said this Feraligatr maneuver will help me spin around my opponent once we're both on the ground, but most of this is review for me. Lucario is without a doubt one hard coach to satisfy. This didn't look useful at first, but I knew the moves I would learn for the next few weeks wouldn't be useful for fighting off a crowd of armed men.

Riolu seemed to have been a hard coach also. She was no different from Lucario.

"You got to get your defensive position right! Your inside arm is supposed to be only a few inches off your face at all times Ralts, and your other arm is supposed to be about a foot in front of your face to protect yourself from oncoming shots!" She was very observant of the actions used by her students. "I don't care if you get dirty, do those somersaults correctly! You'll get them washed in two hours. That's it you're doing it correctly now." Ralts began to roll a lot faster and smoother as I watched.

"That's my cub, keep at it Riolu!" Lucario happily yelled out getting a smile from Riolu which instantly turned into a smirk.

I have always thought that Riolu was just timid and shy up until now. I wonder how Ralts will put up with this fighting. It looks awkward for her to be agile with her robe and soon to be skirt and then gown. I also wonder how Lucario will teach Ralts and Celsius how to evade non physical contact attacks like flame thrower. I mean some of this didn't make a lot of sense.

It has now been probably about two and a half hours now since practice started. By now the sun was above the horizon and, Lucario finished teaching me his lesson for today when he called us all in around him, including Riolu. We all kneeled and were told not to sit on our butts.

"From what I saw today, you guys did phenomenally well. To tell you the truth I expected a lot less from each of you today. Riolu's coaching to be low due to inexperience, Rayn's strength to be low for his age, Ralts to complain about the clothing she wore to prevent a few movements, and Celsius to be immobile to a few orders as well, but each of you proved me wrong." I was relieved that practice was finally over after a grueling long training session. I was also happy that we pleased him. "And to top it off we will jog on the hills of the surrounding forest for a half hour and then you'll be done, so get up and let's go."

"Yes sir!" exclaimed Riolu while the rest of us were shocked to hear the last sentence.

Lucario's speech was very heart warming up until he told us we had to run for a half hour up and downhill. Crap! We each unenthusiastically got up and began jogging behind Lucario who was joining us to the location. Ralts had to levitate though, or just attempt running but probably at a slow speed. We ran through the residential area to find only a few species wondering around, some even waving at us, and then arrived deep within the forest which was indeed very hilly. As much as I look like I can handle it, I despise running long distances due to my asthma. I'm just glad that its fall, the temperature is cool, and Lucario is here as my "inhaler".

The hills were covered by a thin layer of mist which was water vapor or humidity which caused me to struggle with my breathing. I could barely even breathe gasping for air, but Lucario ignored me. Everyone else except for Riolu, who is probably used to this, is also going through the same thing as me. I eventually had to slow down so bad that it seemed I was just power walking. The slopes were steep, there was long damp grass that grew up to my ankles, and the tall trees blocked some of the sunlight from even reaching the ground. We just ran random routes through many of the hills before we finally ran back to the lake.

"Good work everyone."

No response came from us, just panting, sweating, and shaking; even Riolu was shaking. Lucario was also sweating, but he had control over his breathing and movement.

"Like I said, excellent practice and I expect to see everyone here by tomorrow, dismissed."

Even though it was sudden, I'm glad he ended the practice, but now I have to do this everyday for a long time. Riolu followed Lucario home while Ralts, Celsius, and I staggered our way to home. We walked in and collapsed on some of the pillows in the living room. We were still panting heavily with our eyes either shut or squinting with fatigue. I can't even tell if my legs are still attached to my body. They feel like packs of Jell-O.

"Well… that was one exhausting practice… wasn't it," I finally managed to say.

"That was… so exhausting, but I got to admit it was pretty… fun," Ralts replied while Celsius fell back asleep.

Her voice sounded tired also. She couldn't even mentally manage out her words to communicate. She dozed off and I soon followed. That was one of the hardest exercises I have ever gone through.

I regained consciousness from Gardevoir calling both Ralts and I. She was right above us and sounded worried.

"Are you guys okay! Did Lucario push it too far for you?"

"No, I'm used to it and so is Celsius, but Ralts is probably exhausted from some of the exercise," I replied with a chuckle.

"Oh my poor youngling!" She picked up Ralts, and started comforting her.

"Mommy, its okay I'm fine!" Ralts fumed.

Ralts sounded pretty irritated with her mother babying her like that.

"Sorry, I was just worried about your condition," Gardevoir replied but with some hurt in her tone.

Ralts noticed the change in her voice. "Sorry Mommy, but I think this training will change me. Its like- like I can manage on my own if I do this everyday, Mommy. I don't want you to worry too much about me; it's embarrassing…"

I heard Celsius snicker then giggle after Ralts said that making me guess she's awake with her eyes closed. I know exactly how Ralts feels right now. I remember going to my first football practice. Coming home that day, my mom got the same reaction that Gardevoir had, but I didn't liked getting babied. After that first day of practice, I felt like I had accomplished something not many people can handle. I mean rigorous training and exercise is not for everyone. I felt almost like an adult with responsibility and I can't really describe that feeling. No matter how shy Ralts may look, she must be having that same feeling I had. I remember yesterday when Ralts begged Gardevoir that she could train with me. I found that very cute how she wanted to be strong and fit, but I still don't get why she just decided to join.

Gardevoir told us that it was time for us all to clean our selves. Walking outside, the sun barely changed color or position from when I walked inside after practice. At least the sun was visible and over the horizon. Riolu was outside chewing on some of the mint leaves. The rest of us took some, and began chewing down.

"So that's why you're so strong huh?" I began to Riolu.

Riolu blushed. "Yeah, I guess so. So I'll get you guys up tomorrow then?" Looks like Riolu is only timid and shy when she's not practicing.

"Yeah, so you're not going to scream at us any more or make us call you ma'am?" Ralts asked.

"Oh no, only in training, but out here we're all friends."

"So how did Ralts do?" Gardevoir added.

"She did very well. Even though it doesn't seem like it, she enjoyed it a lot."

"Actually when you practice you think that it's hard and it hurts real badly, but then after practice is done you look back at the fun and find out that you loved every second of it. It may sound crazy, but it always happens," I added.

"It's true mommy. I like learning how to fight. I want to be like them one day," she said pointing at us.

"That's fine darling as long as you use fighting only for defense to protect yourself and others in the future. Never harm others intentionally."

Through out the conversation Celsius didn't say one word. Something has been up with her all morning today.

Feeling a little more comfortable, I took my clothes off and jumped in the lake to wash off. It felt really refreshing since my muscles were stiff and very sore from practice. I could barely even move my body at all and if I did it felt like I was being stabbed where I moved, so I just relaxed in the water to soothe my aching pains. While I relaxed Gardevoir glided over to the stream to wash the clothes while Celsius and Ralts were struggling to walk or levitate. Ralts and my clothes were probably already damp from intense sweating at practice. Boy, this life is going to be intense.

That's how the normal routine was everyday for the time Celsius and I stayed here. Riolu would get Ralts, Celsius, and me up to begin practice every morning. Before I left I would eat a berry to give me some energy for the long day of endurance. After training we would go home, wash up, and eat.

After eating breakfast Celsius, Ralts, Riolu, and I would hang out somewhere in the village. Ralts would bring that camera with her every day after combat practice. She wore the strap around her neck which is how the other pokémon recognized her. Eventually I showed her the features and accessories like the charger and memory chips, but Ralts learned how to use the camera on her own. She even knew more about it than I did! I checked the three memory chips and it said eight gigabytes of space on all of them, so it should last a while.

We each became best friends, but Celsius sometimes got a little harsh at Riolu and Ralts for reasons unknown to me, but then after two months of hanging out she became very friendly with them. At sunset we would go home and then have dinner. Most of the time, Lucario came over for dinner and helped out with the cooking.

Before bed I would take one more bath in the lake. I enjoyed the water too much, so I mainly relaxed at night time in it. I did feel as if someone would spy on me every night while I bathed since I heard some rustling in the bushes that surrounded me, but I just kept on thinking the breeze would cause the bushes to make those sounds. Then I would sleep like a log each night since practice wore me out most of the time.

Each day, no matter how many months after training began, I would be sore after practice. That's good because that means I was developing muscles. And I was. Amazingly I got the outline of my abs which I thought was impossible for someone my age to reach. My arms and legs were bigger and firm which even scared and freaked me out. I honestly don't know if my build is normal for a seven year old. After a month of training, the lessons started to make a lot of sense and seemed very useful. I even learned some acrobatic kicks after only a month of training, and the moves even became more complex and fast in the later lessons. Lucario was right after all. Ralts and Celsius also learned several counter attacks, not the actual power "Counter", but close quarters combat wise. I always thought how funny it was to hear Ralts saying she wants to be strong like me, and she did get stronger. She was always slim and small from the start, but now she's still slim and small but strong for a feminine psychic pokémon with neat curves on her body. Over time she had gotten more mature thanks to Lucario's discipline. Riolu had always been strong, but very timid. She only doesn't act shy when she's very angry or very excited. But I think she's more of the quiet type. I noticed that as other pokémon would talk to us on a rare occasion. Riolu wouldn't join in conversations. The only time she would speak was when she translated for me. However, those moments were rare since the four of us have a reputation of being weird and abnormal since we stayed around Ralts.

I would always pray in bed before I went to sleep. I thanked my mom and dad for giving me a new family to call my own. I really do think they are watching over me. My new family; I actually do look at Gardevoir as a mother and Lucario as father now. They actually found that really affectionate of me. At some points I even felt like Riolu and Ralts were my sisters.

Three months after I was adopted by Gardevoir it was New Years Eve. I found this out by the beautiful fireworks that illuminated that night, and it was cold obviously. Ralts and Riolu were scared at first because they were both not even a year old yet, but I calmed them both down and the four of us watched the fireworks for the remainder of the night. I had to use all of my clothes and armor to keep myself warm which wasn't enough. I guess the three pokémon saw this and we all huddled together that night under that same oak tree we had our picnic the day after I moved in. Seeing it for the first time, they both thought it was the most beautiful sight they had ever seen. As for me, I thought that was one of the closest moments I have ever had with pokémon. Nothing better then cuddling with some rare pokémon.

Only three weeks after New Years, It was Riolu's and Ralts's first birthday.

"You were both born on the same day!" Celsius gasped.

"No, mother and father planned a birthday in between the actual dates of our birth."

"Yes, Lucario and I planned this after we became friends. Actually when is your birthday?" Gardevoir asked Celsius.

"March 26, I'll be seven in two months, and I was born a year after Rayn on the exact date. So we have the same birth date and he'll be eight."

"That's not even that far away." She then began to think to her self. "Lucario, we have two new birthday members!" she yelled over at Lucario who was outside in the front yard.

"Wait what!" I yelled in shock after eavesdropping in Celsius conversation with Gardevoir.

"No, you don't have to celebrate our birthday! We're both just very glad that you guys have taken us into your home." I honestly didn't want to place a sudden burden on them like that.

"No come on, let's celebrate the two of your birthdays too!" Lucario and even Ralts and Riolu insisted on it.

"Yeah, we actually want to include your birthday in. Besides yours is two months away and Ralts is actually one month away," Gardevoir added.

I kept on trying to turn the offer down and so did Celsius, but eventually they forced it upon us to celebrate our birthday along with Ralts's and Riolu's. It was four birthday celebrations put into one day.

Gardevoir made a delicious pie that day. It was a berry pie with all sorts of berries put in to make the flavor very exotic. She probably got the crust from the shopping district of the village. We had a picnic that day which was very similar to the one from the day after I moved in. We were each under the large oak tree having a great time.

While Gardevoir and Lucario went back to the home to get some more supplies, Ralts would get in my left arm while Riolu would do the same to my other arm. Like I was hugging them both, Ralts grabbed the camera on her chest and turned it around to aim it at us and then took a shot. I thought this was cute and didn't mind this at all. My mother took several pictures of me holding Celsius all of the time. Celsius was asked to get in the picture by sitting on my right shoulder. After a few shots, the three females did something really, really unexpected. Riolu began to show me affection with small gentle little licks to my cheek, while Ralts placed her lips on my other cheek, kissing me with their eyes closed, and Ralts took a picture of that shot too! My face turned warm from the strong blush I was probably giving off. These pokémon were kissing me!

Wait… maybe they're not kissing-kissing me but instead just showing me pokémon affection. Just like how Lithium would lick me in the face every time I came home from school or owners of any other canine-like pokémon would go through the same thing. Riolu is a canine pokémon so this is normal. For a second I actually thought they were really kissing me, a human getting a kiss from a pokémon… Celsius also started showing affection by nuzzling the side of my face! Another good shot for Ralts to take a picture of. I looked at the pictures and it showed Riolu's little tongue placed cutely on my cheek with her eyes closed and a smile on her muzzle, Ralts lips puckered against my face next to my chin, and Celsius face against my other cheek as she smiled. All of our faces were redder than normal. All three females were blushing very deep red, including Celsius since it was darker around her cheeks.

After another ten seconds of them kissing my cheeks and rubbing their faces on mine, we were each startled by Gardevoir saying something quite embarrassing to me.

"Awe, look how cute you four look."

"Whoa… Rayn, I never knew you were… a ladies man." Lucario was so speechless because he was keeping his muzzle shut with a wide smile forming as he tried to stop himself from laughing really hard.

Dialga, Palkia this is embarrassing, and what do the females do about it? They jumped off and were about as embarrassed as I was, except Celsius who was normally laid back anyways.

Through out the time Celsius and I stayed here life was… great. It's awesome, and I can't ask for anything better than this. I learned more fighting moves and did some kicks, punches, and counters that I could've never imagined myself completing. Plus, my asthma went away. I guess my lungs expanded and grew used to the high amount of running I did. It amazed me how I was like the actors from the kung fu movies except no strings or special effects. Sometimes I would train for two more hours instead or hanging out to complete more lessons which I guess is how I learned all the lessons of jujutsu, capoeira, and ninjutsu so fast. I never thought learning all of this that fast was possible. Ralts, Riolu, and Celsius also learned a lot too. Ralts is now much more mature, and it's only been about nine months since we started. I was now much stronger and built from the running and push ups I did. Ralts also was in good shape as well. Riolu had always been strong, but she's still shy all the time.

Life was excellent here, but there was still one thing that stayed in my mind the whole time I stayed here. Revenge, No matter how hard I try to forget the images I saw that night, I can't stop those thoughts from coming back. Sometimes before I sleep I would ask for an opportunity to kill those bastards that killed my family. I never knew if my request would come. Most of the time I hoped it did. But after I thought that I would literally slap myself across the face. This is my new home, and I don't want that fact to change.

**(POV)**

The time my Master and I stayed here at first was a little hard because I had to keep an eye out for Riolu and Ralts. They told me that they loved him, and I thought that was tauros shit! How can they see Master for only five days and say they love him. Looks more like curiosity and lust to me. I think they were just using him as an excuse because they hit that age, so they'll do anything to make up crap. The first few weeks I just intimidated them. I wasn't trying to be mean; I was trying to show them that if they do anything to him they were going to have to deal with me. I kept a real close eye on them both.

I noticed that before Riolu would wake Master and me up, she would just gaze at him sleeping for about five to ten minutes. What, does she think it's cute; more like creepy enough to put me on alert. And Ralts would take pictures of him doing just about anything. She eventually found out how to turn the flash off, so she would get away unnoticed. But after a few more talks to them, I began to trust and believe them. If they were truly just curious I believe they would have done something long ago. Who knows, maybe I was wrong about the two.

Well in time we were cool with each other. I didn't mind if they gave a quick stare or picture at Master since I do that sometimes myself. They were friends like no one could ever ask for, but during that major birthday party, they began to make their move. They kissed him in the cheeks so I nuzzled his face since I only have a beak. That was probably the first time Riolu felt confident about her self since she got the guts to kiss him. That's when I started to ante up. Either I slowly show more affection but making Rayn think its normal pokémon/human affection, or I retaliate by showing way more affection but Rayn finds out it's beyond the limit of a trainer/pokémon relationship. Everyday was like a gamble to me. It wasn't that bad, but then I thought it would get worse because this year it snowed a lot earlier than it normally would in this climate. Ralts's room collapsed from the weight of the snow, and thankfully no one was hurt, but she decided to sleep with us.

Ralts' bed was too weak to support Riolu's added weight since she's a steel type which adds forty to fifty more pounds of weight on her bed which wasn't designed for that. The bed that Rayn and I sleep on was actually made for her as a guest bed. I thought "aw shit" because we would sleep in the same bed. Not that the bed was small, as a matter of fact it could support four people at the most, it was that maybe Ralts might do something to Master. Well she tried but failed. She started to cuddle up with him, but I was just in the way. Other than hearing a few moans at night from Ralts and not Master, which sometimes woke him up or caused him to rustle around, everything was just fine. I didn't mind if Ralts has a wet dream; I don't even care if she handles her urges on her own since it stops her from doing anything to Rayn, hehe.

There were still a few things that saddened me. One was that I lost my best friend, Lithium. I had known that growlithe my whole life. He was only a pet at first until Master trained us both. He was my best pokémon friend at the time. We both had a lot in common mainly because we were both fire types, but he was fixed. He was stronger than me at the youth leagues, and taught me some attacks, but now he's gone, and sometimes I would think of revenge just like Master does. I sometimes wanted revenge more than anything in the world, but I never show it.

The fact that Master has aura for an unknown and unexplainable reason did not ease my depression. As a matter of fact, Lucario would bring up the fact that the actual reason why Master mastered all the martial arts so quickly, why his asthma disappeared, and why his muscles were developing unusually quick was all because his 'hidden power' was able to let his body tolerate and learn the moves much faster than pokémon and humans, not his strength and experience. All I know is that he used an Aura Outbreak for the first time on a mafia grunt that was about to kill me. He never noticed or remembered himself turning into that thing. It looked like Giratina literally had power over his thoughts and actions. I just hope that that never happens again.

**(POV)**

When Riolu and I first saw Rayn, we stayed as far away from him as possible. We both hadn't seen humans since we were just small cubs. I thought he was a threat even though he looked almost harmless while he was unconscious, and the truth is he was unconscious for two weeks and so was Celsius. After he stayed for three days, Riolu and I watched Mommy tend to his care. I even helped sometimes while Riolu stayed back. She was too scared even though she is stronger than me and Rayn put together. That's when we sort of thought he was completely harmless, and I have to admit, a bit cute.

The day I saw him awake walking into my home, I was terrified. I remember shaking every time he looked at me, and that he tried to calm me down. He finally began telling us how he almost ended up dead. Rayn loved pokémon more than most other humans did, so he enjoyed the company. When I found out his whole family was killed, I was shocked to find him, a human, crying. So I began comforting him. He didn't hit or kill me; instead I was thanked by him. Looking into his light brown eyes, I didn't see any signs of threat. However, I still couldn't trust him. But he earned my trust by supporting and cheering me up. He was even willing to defend me from the three bully nidoran. He bought me that camera that I carry with me wherever I go to take pictures of the moments I enjoy most. So he earned my trust.

When my ceiling collapsed, I decided to sleep with Rayn and Celsius, which Mommy had a hard time deciding on yes or no. Even though I couldn't do what I truly wanted to do with Rayn, I enjoyed my sleeps with him. Cuddling up next to him, his warmth saving me from the cold was just enough to satisfy my emotions.

**(POV)**

When my father brought in Rayn and Celsius, I couldn't help but protest against keeping Rayn in. When ever Gardevoir came over to treat his injuries, I got all the way at the end of the room. Just looking at the human gave me chills so great that each hair along my spine was erect straight out. I remember seeing my mother's life get taken away by a human with a gun. From what Mother had looked like after what those humans had done to her, Rayn looked completely the same, but he's just a human. One morning I wake up to find him in the kitchen. I couldn't move at all. I trembled violently, I couldn't think at all. I wanted to run back, but I was just too scared to do so. All I did was just take a step back from him, and only my father's words could calm me down at the time. He looked at me while we were eating breakfast. I looked deep into his eyes and searched through his aura while he wasn't noticing. I found no threats, but I still found anger in him. That anger wasn't actually towards pokémon but humans.

I eventually calmed down and took a liking to him later that night. I was surprised that he felt the same pain as Ralts and I had once felt. The truth is I actually felt bad from the time he appeared unconscious at my home. It reminded me of my mother. After talking to each other I truly didn't find him a threat. And even though I did hit adolescence and he was the only male I knew, I love do him. It's not curiosity, it's not lust, it's not the fact that he's the only male around. My father told me that Riolu and lucario naturally know when the love of our life is found unlike humans or other pokémon. I did find him cute and handsome. I would accidentally blurt out stuff that I shouldn't have said in front of Rayn due to my anxiety when he was around. That's just how pathetic I am around others… Sometimes I thought that Ralts was lucky that he stayed at her home and not mines. I even got jealous sometimes, and I know Ralts and I are friends, but sometimes I feel like we're actually rivals. I also felt the same way about Celsius. Even though Celsius known Rayn all her life, I know that Ralts and I look more human than she did. I wanted to tell Rayn so badly how much I liked him more than just a friend, but I couldn't get the courage. That's how I am. I may be strong but I'm just too shy.

**(POV)**

Rayn… Rein…Very interesting. A young child with an incredibly high aura count which I have not seen in a human in my life. It's incredibly remarkable that I indeed succeeded in teaching most of what I know about combat and that he held all of that knowledge in physically and mentally. I am absolutely positive that it is impossible for a young human to do that. Rayn is a rare kind. It has been one-hundred-fifty years after the last Aura Guardian was massacred. Before then it was more common to find kids like Rayn. After the mid nineteenth century however it was close to impossible to find even an adult human with that ability. That's why I see Rayn almost like a son. He's like a Riolu except he can't use aura yet. That's why I hope I can teach him the abilities. In two years he'll be of age to harness Life Energy.

The scrolls that I have explain the history of my entire species and the Aura Guardians. I did some further research and found the scroll on the life of Sir Rein. As I read something sparked in my memories. I remember as a Riolu in my pack our mentors taught other fellow Riolu and I about a controversial topic. A prophesy of Sir Rein and even Sir Aaron's soul being reincarnated simultaneously. No one is certain it is true since pieces of my kind's history are scattered all over Sinnoh and recovered by other packs of Lucario. In those pieces are the full details of this topic. That's why it's controversial. No one can get the pieces together to figure if it's true or a made up legend. Our kind had dispersed into original packs before it was even distributed.

I translated and highlighted the Lucario calligraphy using my aura for Gardevoir. I even took time to write down what I learned about this prophesy for her to read to see what she thought about it. None of us are certain if it's true or not. All I know if through the records I have from my pack I have found only one scroll which is one of the many pieces explaining the prophesy. The calligraphy looked like it was ripped out of a scroll book. The first character and last was a continuation of another scroll, so this is just one page about the full details on this prophesy. I can't even tell who foresaw and recorded this since it's not the first page of the scroll book. If only I had that I can tell if this is real or fake. However, with some of the context on this scroll I concluded something. I know there are two human boys required for this to work. Well on this scroll a birth date was displayed and it's for one of the boys. August eighth, that's not Rayn's birth date. The very last line of the scroll read this boy will get Sir Aaron's soul meaning he uses treaty and talk to solve most problems. What was very unfortunate is that the page cuts off directly before the name appeared. "The soul belongs to a boy calle-" was what it read. Damn it, if only I had all of the pages I can get answers. These scrolls that belong to this scroll book hold the answers to everything about why Rayn has aura. What is even more unfortunate is that this means Rayn gets Sir Rein's soul meaning his problems will be solved through anger and possibly… war.

**(POV)**

It's been over a year since Celsius and I had lived with Gardevoir. It was pretty cold outside at this time of year, so I mainly stayed inside the whole time. Thank Arceus that fire pokémon heated up the lake from underground at both night and day.

I learned so many fighting moves with Lucario that if I go back to the jujutsu gym that I had originally joined, I'd instantly become a black belt and exceed over all of the instructors. Celsius also became stronger and very skilled with close combat using only her feet.

But it's also been over a year that my family was murdered…

"I'm planning for us to go back to where the Excal Estate was. I want to see what has happened to the site since we disappeared, and I'm taking you with me. We'll leave tomorrow morning."

"What, are you insane! Are you sure you want to go back to the site? It might bring back bad memories, and besides it's going to take half the day to get there!" worried Celsius.

"I'm prepared for it. I told Lucario and Gardevoir earlier that we're going, but Riolu doesn't know and neither does Ralts. Don't you want to find out what happened to our old home."

"Well… yeah. I actually am curious of what has become of the estate. But it probably burnt to the ground… Maybe… Maybe I'll just see the room that Lithium and I had shared."

"I know you miss him a lot. We'll go."

"Yes Master. I have to go where ever you go. My loyalty to you is important to myself. You're all I have."

"Thank you Celsius, I love you too if that's what you're trying to say." I was touched by her words.

She giggled before saying anything. "It's funny when you act so innocent. I love you too, Master."

I blew out the candle and drifted off to sleep wondering what has happened to the wreckage since our disappearance.

The next morning I was greeted by Riolu waking me up for today's training. Ralts was already right next to her. I nervously got up, set Celsius down on the floor, and told them where I was going.

"Actually we can't train today. We're going to go to my old home and find out what has happened to it over the year."

"What!" Riolu and Ralts both yelled, "No please don't leave us like this you two!" Ralts cried putting her face against my leg. Riolu also started sobbing grabbing my other leg as well holding on like her life depended on it.

"No not like that," I laughed, "We're just going to go look at the site and come back. I'll definitely be back by tonight."

"So", she began before sniffling, "Do you promise us that you'll be back? I can't live with-I mean it's not going to be fun with you gone." Riolu begged with tears still falling from her face.

"Yes, I do. I promise we'll be back by tomorrow."

"You absolutely promise, Rayn. It'll hurt us both if you don't return…"

I got off the bed and sat in between where they stood. "I swear that I'll be back okay. Pinky promise?" I held up both of my pinky fingers to each of them. Wondering what I was doing they just held out their last finger of their hand or paw where I took it into my own pinky. "That tells you both nothing will happen to me." I pulled them in after that for a tight embrace. Celsius jumped in between us and joined in.

Ralts and Riolu walked us out the front door. I went outside wearing the close-to impenetrable body armor my dad gave me when I was escaping the estate underneath my clothes. Celsius and I began walking off waving to Riolu and Ralts before disappearing beyond the trees. Snow blanketed the ground around me from the gray patches in the clouds that shielded the whole city, which told me this is going to be a cold walk. Our footprints were left by us for each step I took feeling the snow crunch and compact under my feet. I packed some berries in a small white blanket that Gardevoir gave to me. The blanket almost resembled Gardevoir herself because of some of the markings were green and red except it was just a small piece of cloth. I used the sun to give me direction knowing I must head to the northeast corner of the whole city where the estate was. After about a half hour of walking, the urban community appeared before Celsius and me. We walked out of the forest that was surrounding the community to find myself in the worst part of Rustborow. Gangs, shootings, and drugs are found throughout this area. I hope I can now fight my way out of any situation, Celsius and I kept calm, but I was still nervous inside. Having to fight a full grown adult for the first time can kill me. It gave me the chills just walking past somebody in this area.

We got out of the bad side and walked through the suburbs to avoid the center of the city where the business buildings were at, like Devon Corporation. After several hours of walking, we arrived at the path that leads into the forest along the northwest side of Rustborow. After 15 more minutes of walking we arrived at a clearing. It was still around the afternoon.

This is where the Estate is supposed to be, but nothing was there except snow, debris, and a wire fence that protected the perimeter of the property. A sign on the fence said, "Crime scene investigation. Property of the Regional Enforcement Agency." So now the REA owns this property and are still investigating after a year! The fence protected the area of land that was either owned by my parents or showed signs of evidence. About 200 feet away showed what should be the entrance of the estate. I winced and already felt tears welling up my eyes as I look beyond the fence. It was just a collapsed structure in black that still had nine feet of construction barely intact. I picked up Celsius in my left arm and used my right arm with my legs to climb over the fence. I walked over to the wreckage to take a closer look. I took a step on the first stair of the foyer to the entrance. I hesitantly took more steps until I was in front of the doors. Celsius still in my arms, I gently nudged what was left of the door in. The door buckled and I saw pieces of ash fall off the door way and blow into the doorway from the gentle draft. More debris was found in the estate. I was actually stepping on the ceiling and roof top that used to be forty-eight feet above me. The spiral stairway was still amazingly intact, but the second floor was about gone.

A large wall that separated the middle and back portion of the house survived. I walked into the jet black hallways to go through the wall. I was scared. This must be what walking to hell feels like. Blackened dark walls with little light showing at the other side, a scent of smoke and rotting wood, I can even smell what's left of something fowl and rotting…could it be flesh? I stopped as soon as I found the grand hall gone. Just the marble floor remained that used to be glistening white. Now it's black and blanketed with ash. Why hasn't anyone bothered to clean or demolish this site? I didn't bother to check the other rooms around but proceeded to the back yard. The fences still lead a few acres away through the back of the estate. What I saw were yellow labels placed on the ground and some of the surrounding trees, naming evidence.

I looked to my right to find a gaping hole in the ground. Yellow Cautious tape surrounded the perimeter of the hole. This was my Dad's armory which stored firearms that he had bought from who knows where. It caved in and all the weapons that were hanged up on the titanium walls were gone. No surprise since most of them were illegal and were only supposed to be used by military officials, but since my dad was in SWAT and he and I had an interest in fire arms, he still bought some legally as a collection. Staring down the hole formed images in my head of Dad and me shooting these guns in our built in shooting range.

I fell on my knees feeling the snow damping my pants as tears flowed down my face to freeze. Celsius, who was silent the whole time, was also feeling my pain. We both knew that this would bring back cold memories of the murders that occurred here over three hundred-sixty-five days ago. I didn't want to see anymore, but before I left with Celsius, I stood in front of the spiral stairs and gave prayers of Arceus, Dialga, and Palkia to my family that was killed that night, hoping that they're in a better place.

Getting out the way I came in, I set Celsius back down and began to stride back to the village with tears falling behind me. I used the same route to get back to the village.

When I walked through the bad area of Rustborow, I turned my face from sad and depressed to serious and intimidating as possible even though I'm only eight. Large structures around me created long alley ways that I do not want to wind up in. Well in one of the alleys I heard screams and grueling yells for help so loud and pleading I froze and my heart rate picked up violently with my stomach turning just from imagining the agony the person must going through. No one was outside but Celsius and me. Not bearing the screams anymore, we ran to see who was in trouble. When we stopped at the alley we both saw two older looking teens, one with a baseball bat, both wearing blue sweatshirts, and kicking and punching what looked like to be an innocent man in his mid twenties. He wasn't wearing any kind of bandana, so he must've been a local here not involved in gangs. I didn't know if I should help him or not, but I couldn't live with the guilt of seeing a man beat to death when I could've done something to help. Even though the men in blue looked bulky, Celsius and I were still confident, and if they use that baseball bat on me, they should expect a snapped arm. Size doesn't matter anymore… I hope Lucario is right. I hesitated to charge until his screams got louder and louder.

We both ran in as fast our legs could carry. Once they heard our trots along the snow, they both turned around, and Celsius amazingly tackled the unarmed man to the ground.

"The fuck you doin' in a place like this kid!" yelled the man with the baseball bat that was raising it to make an overhead swing.

That was my cue to counter the attack. I stepped up to him closing the gap in between us, wrapped my arms around his as best as I could, immobilizing his arms, pushed my body against his, and I tipped him to his side getting his footing off balance. My head was beside his chest when I placed my inside leg behind his leg and pushed him down hard that he landed right on his butt then to his back. Amazed that I, a 4' 8" feather weight, got a teen, 5' 8" heavy weight, on his knees, I brought his right arm that was holding the bat to my knee while I still stood up. Aiming right at the right spot on his elbow, I forced my knee to his elbow as hard as I could. The effect was loud crunch then a snap sending his elbow bending backwards at the wrong angle. Wow, Lucario's moves do work like he said; technique over strength. The snow beneath him was stained in rust as I saw a sharp white and red object exposed through his skin ejecting a lot of blood. He fell down and shrilled in intense pain as he bled on the ground. His screams were even louder than that man's. I glanced at his arm for the last time to see the bone protruding out which I almost puked up from seeing but I held it in. I can't believe I just took out a kid nine years older than me.

Celsius was fighting off the person using ember on him a few times, and I saw some gashes in his clothes and skin from Celsius powerful razor sharp talons. I looked at the man that was jumped by these teens. His eyes were big, like he just saw a ghost type. Well I did bring a big guy down after all.

"Toney!" screamed the man that was getting an ember attack by Celsius.

I looked back at the man trying to find any injuries.

"You okay?" I asked.

Instead of a brief condition check I got a warning. "Look out Kid!" He screamed.

I turned around and saw the man aiming a 9mm pistol right at me; a Glock 17. I froze from that sight. "I don't know who or what in the fuck you are! You broke his arm, man!" the gunman yelled in fright.

I couldn't move and if I flinched I would be down, but out of intense fear, I immediately ducked and ran from the direction of the gun in one move. I've never had a gun aimed at me before nor have I been that agile. I heard deafening loud noises, saw flashes of light, one lasting around 10 seconds, and then I screamed at the top of my lungs as I felt intense sharp, acute pain on my upper left thigh. I heard splattering and ripping sounds of a bullet tearing through flesh and saw blood land in the snow in front of me as I fell and grabbed my leg. When I touched it the pain just got much worse like a giant drill on my leg. I turned trying to bear the pain but couldn't as I cried my eyes out and yelled. This is the worst mistake I have ever made. I cursed as I imagined just leaving this guy to the other two.

I looked towards the fight as best as I could to find a bullet wound through the man's forehead and a long cut through his neck, blood still bursting out of the wound. The sight of dark red liquid literally fly yards away from his slit throat and paint the brick walls around us was enough to freeze my thoughts in place. The man that Celsius and I saved ran up to me followed by a combusken that- wait a combusken! Before I could refocus my thoughts, I blacked out from the confusion, exhaustion, and intense pain.

I slowly regained consciousness in a small, cramped room. My surroundings showed all the walls colored white but gray in appearance from lack of cleanliness and even orange scattered marks around from rusting. To my left and right were tables full of basic medical equipment. Then I found a combusken, with arms crossed and head resting on my chest sleeping. Wait a combusken! D-did Celsius evolve during that fight? Wow, a combusken is lying on my chest at this very moment!

Assuming it was Celsius, I gently glided one of my hands through her neck. Her feathers were now cream colored while her legs were amber, and so were the three large feathers on her head that stuck out.

She rose up and the cream feathers on her chest resembled her wearing a long sleeve jacket as they were above the amber layer of feathers. I also noticed that, like all female pokémon that evolve to their second or final stage, her chest had expanded and curved out bringing out her feathers which were concealing her breasts. I sort of blushed, but Celsius then embraced me causing me to blush harder.

"How are you feeling?" I asked still a little weak from sleeping.

"I feel… much stronger than usual, but I'm so happy you're okay!" she said happily. Even though she had different cries I still managed to understand what she was saying. Her cries were much deeper too. Almost forgot I had a female pokémon.

"I'm so proud of you Celsius. You evolved!"

A smile was drawn through her beak. I scanned around the room again. It was a bit small and rather dirty as the blue carpeted floor had stains of various colors on them. The grey unkempt walls also had water damage stains of brown. The carpet wasn't even cut to right size since it was partly rolled around the ends of the walls. So this is not a hospital.

I noticed that my leg had been bandaged up and the pain was gone. After seeing that, the man that I saved walked into the room and then smirked. He was also muscular, almost as big as the other guys. Wearing a white under shirt, darkened purple marks of past lesions were revealed around his arms as scars telling me that he must've been into some deadly fights. He wasn't as tan as I am, brown straight wavy hair went down to his ears, and he's probably some bad stranger judging from the scars. I think I picked the wrong person to save, but if Celsius and I stayed at what seems to be his house and healed me than maybe he's not as bad.

"You alright kid?" he spoke, his voice a bit raspy.

"Yeah… I'm fine." I still felt a little nervous.

"I patched your wound. It wasn't bad, not as bad as I've seen. Thanks for saving my ass back there kid. I've never seen someone your age or your size do those stunts. I've only seen as young as fourteen year olds do all that shit. What do they call you?"

Before I answered I thought if I said Rayn then he might know of my family, after all there aren't that many "Rayns" around. Not to mention my Dad's company was famous and known through out the world.

"My name is Jonathan." Just a simple name belonging to one of my friends from school that popped into my head.

"Well Jon you can call me Juggernaut. Do you have people that I can drop you off at or what?"

"No… th…uh they killed each other in a drunken argument, and I'm still shocked to witness the whole thing." I thought it be a good idea if I just made up a whole different story instead of not telling him anything. I don't want to get killed by this guy. It seemed that Celsius understood what I was trying to do. If I simply say I'm an orphan then he won't kick me out. I can't just tell him I live in the forest neither.

"So then you're like those psycho kids that know hardcore fighting and martial arts with no family. It's just like what my boss is looking for. He gets kids and teens like you to become his assassins which I fucking find dumb as shit. Training teens and sometimes little kids to kill multiple people; just like they do in the fucking Cape Republic Nation."

"So, who is this guy, your boss?"

He took out a cigarette and match. Lighting up the stick he took a puff just to blow it out and let the gray trail of smoke spread through out the cramped room. Arceus, I hate the smell of smoke. "You know what the Mafia is, Jon?"

The word mafia caused me to focus all attention on him.

"Yeah I heard of them, why?" I said that as calmly as I could since I felt like yelling it out.

"The leader, The Don, is the man I work for. I run drugs and deal them around Hoenn for him. I don't blow any of that shit. I just stick with these," he said holding out his cigarette. "I don't know how I got the job. All I know is it pays good."

After he said that a light bulb instantly popped over my head and brightly illuminated my mind with a big idea. He works for the mafia, he just said the Don is searching for kids like me, and he knows I have no where else to go. Just like that old saying: "Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer."

"So you run drugs around the city. You know it looks like you could use someone to watch your back while making a deal." I tried to change my vocabulary and comprehension to his to not sound like I wasn't worthy of being his guard, but I can't talk slang at all. "You saw what my Combusken and I did to those punks, and I know my way around a gun. You know, since we don't have a home and all, we can keep a look out or guard you." Now Celsius did not know where I was going with this when her eyes started to focus on me.

"Hmm, show me then."

He reached behind his back and pulled out a MAC-10 machine pistol and presented it to me with the barrel pointing towards him and the handle pointed to me signaling to hold it. Using my past experience with assault rifles, hand guns, rifles, and shot guns, I grabbed the gray machine pistol out of his hand. It was loaded so I pulled back the cocking handle mechanism on the top of the gun and aimed through the sight at a few objects in the room. This is not new to me.

"What the fuck kid…" he trailed off probably from being surprised that I know how to handle firearms, "Oh yeah, well shoot at something, something small."

I know it is not safe to fire a gun in a small compact room like this, but this guy is crazy. Celsius was never around me when I went shooting with my dad. I took aim at the furthest object in the room which was a small soda can resting on a table twelve feet away from me. I've shot further and smaller objects, so this was going to be easy.

I started pulling back on the trigger. The resistance of the trigger stopped then jerked back from my force as a deafening explosion with a bright flash from the end of the barrel shot out a bullet knocking the can off of the table. Celsius jumped violently at the noise. Smoke trailed out of the barrel as Juggernaut grabbed the can and stared at the one half of the twisted metal.

"Holy fuck! This is fucking crazy. A little kid just handled a gun." He then started laughing almost hysterically. "You know what? I think that's a hell yeah. I don't know where you learned how to fight or how to handle a gun, but if you can shoot and survive then you can to stay with me. Hell I don't want to send you to an orphanage. I already went through that shit when my parents abandoned me. Shit…" He trailed off taking a quick but hard puff from his cigarette.

"You got your self a body guard. Who ever aims a gun at your head will get a back fire from me."

"But hey, I run drugs around the clock so don't expect a pussy ass job from me. That means you gotta kill people. You ever killed anyone kid."

I honestly replied "No" to that question.

"It takes a man to kill and live with it. I have high hopes for you because you are one psychotic mother fucker," he chuckled than coughed from the smoke. After he finished coughing he continued, "You're a perfect child soldier."

"Child… soldier?" I repeated.

"Yeah, kids trained to live in the battlefield at young age. You find that shit around the civil war filled regions around the world. That's what the Don is looking for: perfect kids, teenagers, anyone real young so that his men will train them to become assassins for the Mafia as they become adults."

"Wow… thanks for letting us stay by the way," I said thinking about this Don guy.

"Let's just say it's my way of saying thanks. This room is yours." After saying that he left me in the room with Celsius.

"What in the hell do you think you're up to!" Celsius yelled.

"Don't you get that this is the moment I've been waiting for. I'm going to join the mafia, gain their trust, and then kill them. This is a rare opportunity. Vengeance is standing right in front of us telling me to kill them all."

"But what about home? Aren't you forgetting about our family?"

She had a good point there. Oh no! As a matter of fact I promised both Riolu and Ralts that I would be back.

"How long have we been here!" I panicked.

"About a day since its night right now!" she scolded. "If Juggernaut didn't give you pain killers you probably would've been up a while ago.

I don't have to abandon Riolu or Ralts though. I made an explicit promise that I would be back. I've failed and now all four of them are probably worried sick about me. Riolu was so sad when she thought I was leaving forever. Now she's really going to feel it.

"Yes, I don't want to abandon them. Gardevoir, Lucario, Riolu, and Ralts care for me too much. But…do you think of revenge sometimes?"

Celsius gave a long pause before answering. "Even though I never show it, I always think about getting back at those assholes for hurting us badly, for beating you and me half way to death, and for killing Lithium!"

"Then we may have to make sacrifices for our goals. Like Dad always said, you have to sacrifice things in life to get what you truly want." Celsius face turned into depression. "We can't let this offer go away. No matter how much I love our new home, we must put up with the pain that we may endure for the next few… who knows how long. In order to achieve something you care about, you must make sacrifices."

"As much as I hate to admit, you're right. I'll do anything to stop the mafia."

"We may have to put up with this guy first, and it's very risky. We could get killed! Are you sure you want to do this because I don't want to drag you into this war?"

"I will stick by my master at all times, and I'm thirsty for revenge now that I've realized this opportunity," she smiled almost sinisterly.

After agreeing, Celsius climbed into the bed. I couldn't hold her anymore due to her breasts. If women get mad when someone accidently touches their breasts then pokémon are probably the same way. We turned facing opposite directions instead. The bed was right next to the wall which was inches from my face. I can't believe that I have to break my promise though. Riolu and Ralts will cry for months while Lucario and Gardevoir will shed some tears too for weeks.

"Good night Master, I love you."

"I love you too Celsius." I flicked the switch on the wall shutting off the lights.

Wow, I just abandoned my true home to go for revenge. I chose killing over home sweet home. It was violence over peace. How bad will this turn out? How much pain will there really be? All I know is that war is the final answer…

To Be Continued

Comment please!

Dialga = Jesus

Palkia = Christ (I know that Jesus and Christ is one person and one name, okay)

Arceus = God

REA = FBI

Nation = Continent

Region = Nation (Hoenn is its own nation, Johto is its own nation, and so on)

Cape Republic Nation = Lands below the Sahara Desert of Africa (Guerilla warfare within those struggling nations are known to use child soldiers)

In this fictional universe of pokémon, Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, the other regions aren't the only lands that exist on the globe. In my imagination they're just part of a large archipelago on the western hemisphere of Earth (Similar to where North America is). However, the land formation of Earth in this fic is far different from real life land forms. Cape Republic Nation does not look like Africa. But the reason why I used the location reference is to show these fictional nations, which are continents compared to real life, have the same geography, climate, and ethnic groups as the real world here. So in the Cape Republic Nation there are jungles and rainforests with grassy plains, mild and hot humidity, and several mixed racial and ethnic groups from the Dutch and Africa itself. But the land is totally different and you can imagine it anyway you like. Overtime all eight of the nations will be revealed. I just added it there to help make things easier to understand.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: But I'm Just a Kid

Stumbling weakly through this abandoned warehouse I reached over my right shoulder with my left hand and very, very slowly inched towards the back of my shoulder. I lightly grasped that area only to be shot with extreme soreness rooting all over my back. I slammed my eyes shut, tensed up all over clenching my right fist while I winced. Fuck, the wound felt better left untouched! I dragged my feet through the cold concrete and into a cramped storage room that was my bedroom as well as my Combusken's bedroom. It's the same room that I awoke from over four months ago where I saw Celsius's newly evolved form by my side with all the stains and little dirty furnishes remaining; the time that we regrettably saved Juggernaut from getting killed. I let my bottom fall on the little twin mattress next to the wall of the far side of the room and once again tried to grasp my bullet wound in a vain attempt to soothe it.

"AAUUH!" I screeched not caring if I sounded like a little girl. "MEDIC, Arceus damn it!" I called out angrily flying my arm across the nightstand next to me knocking off whatever objects that was on the makeshift piece of crap.

Entering this cramped up room is bad enough, but coming home from a drug deal gone wrong with a bullet wound on the back of your right shoulder is really frustrating, especially when my damn body armor starts overheating without warning which eventually let's a bullet penetrate.

But I should be used to it now! I mean, I've lived here for over four months and now have five different bullet scars. It's amazing; I never imagined I would live with bullet scars, or war scars in general. But I always wonder how I do it. How do I survive this damn job? We've been running drugs, doing drug deals, sometimes running from the cops, and worst of all killing people; at least these people were also bad who got their hands on these drugs or had hurt innocent people, but at first I hesitated to kill the first person I had ever aimed at. Juggernaut forced me to kill a man that had threatened to kill us. That heart racing, anxiety filled night was hell for me. I sickened myself to the core because with enough will power I did pull the trigger ending that man's life which, and as scary as it sounds, that no longer bothers me anymore.

Now I'm used to killing bad people; it's no longer a sick thought to me as fucked up as it sounds. On the other hand thankfully, I have never killed a Pokémon, and I don't ever plan it; that's a pale thought in my head. Argh, it makes me sick thinking about the thought of getting forced to do that! See, pokémon mind their own business and only become bad if corrupted by a person. People can harm other people with little hesitation so they deserve to be killed in defense. I can never harm a pokémon unless it's a legal battle, but the people we encounter in deals carry pokémon guards with them all the time and use them like disposable tools. Fortunately, when we do encounter pokémon I would simply command Celsius to use non lethal attacks to knock out the Pokémon that threaten us while using lethal attacks to kill nearby gunmen, then I would run over to the person that spawned the pokémon, and then break the pokeball releasing the pokémon from the mental bond the ball created. Sometimes Celsius gets overwhelmed so she has to kill a few, but I can't blame her even though it disgusts me. After all it's not the pokemons' fault; it's the trainers' fault. A good thing about Celsius is that her species is fast enough to dodge bullets from far away, and sometimes people will just ignore her all together and leave pokémon up to her, but if there are too many men I have to shield her.

Just like today, most of the deals would go wrong, but some how and remarkably we came out alive which everyday I saw as a miracle. Cops would sometimes pursue us, but Juggernaut's Ditto would morph into one of our bodies and trick them. It works all the time. It's funny though, it's impossible for any kid my age to do this kind of stuff because they can't cope with the trauma or pain, right? Even Juggernaut knows that which is why he needs to have me around. He treats me like shit then says if I leave I'll die… So how can I do all of this and survive? I don't know…

I threw off my body armor and waited for Ditto to treat my wound. I have to be careful next time and not stand out in the open for too long or else my armor overheats and then wait for it to cool down to harden, but it occasionally happens.

Staring at the wall across from the bed got me to ponder. One thought is what my family thinks about me and Celsius now, which is a thought that's been popping up for a few months. From the tales they taught me they are watching me right now from Heaven. Am I doing the right thing? I can never find out... Another thought is the promise I made to Riolu was tauros shit to her! All I have to remember the group is the piece of cloth Gardevoir gave me to pack my food. I greatly appreciate this cloth even though it's just a piece of "cloth". I always carry this white and green fabric every where I go whether it's in my pocket or wrapped like a handkerchief around my right ankle because it comforts me to know that I should stay alive and be reunited with them one day. It's the one piece that gives me faith and the rejuvenating thought of a peaceful family that I had. I always think about them and then get sad over it from shame; abandoning Riolu, Ralts, Gardevoir, and Lucario without truly saying good bye. That's why I don't believe in promises anymore. My dad promised me his return; he never came back. I promised Riolu I'd return; I never came back…

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," I sobbed to my self still facing the ceiling.

Ditto glided into the room saying dit and ditto a couple of times pointing to the medical supplies on the vanity across the room next the entrance way.

I nodded signaling Ditto to morph appendages to remove the bullet and stitch up my wound. He slid over to the medical supplies on the vanity at the other end of the room grabbing medical pliers and stitching supplies before making his way to my back. I sat up readying myself for the intense pain.

He signaled me that he's about to start.

"Do I ever brace myself?" I asked sarcastically.

I tensed up from the immense fear of the searing pain that I was about to feel. This is something I can never get used to. I was trembling beyond my limit until I felt something enter my wound causing me to grunt trying to hold in my cries while gripping the blanket hard as hell. I felt intense burning, mentally and now physically but it's almost over now. I gritted my teeth and grasped the grip of my gun tucked in between my pants as the pliers searching for the metal fragment dug deep into the unwelcomed cavity. After 15 long hellish seconds Ditto finally pulled out the bullet. He cleaned out the wound and began sowing the wound close. I'm used to the needle stabbing through my skin so I sat there waiting for the work to be done. It's the damn pliers that hurt like hell; he fucks up in operation...

Celsius quickly walked into the room with a worried expression where she saw me sitting there probably with a painful appearance on my face. "Are you okay?" she worried.

"Yeah fine now," I spoke weakly trying to hide the pain. "Why in the hell did Juggernaut need you for? I thought we were done for the day?"

"Juggernaut said that we'll be going to retrieve the 'delicate package' tomorrow evening that the men from today mentioned. He must have interrogated one of them because he knows the exact location of the drugs, if he's even correct," she stated, "He told me to tell you…Calling us a freak for being able to understand each other in the process."

"Great, that asshole never cares about my health. It's probably just another trap waiting to happen."

From the months I've been here, Celsius and I have been abused badly. I protect him with my life, and what he does in return is yell and give us small amounts of nourishment. I just want to fucking kill him so badly! I'd rather shoot him instead of calling Child Care Services.

Celsius walked over placing her hand on my shoulder. "We must do our duties no matter how painful it gets," she explained with a wink. If she winks, it means she's tauros shitting our loyalty and we only do that around Juggernaut or Ditto. She feels exactly what I feel about Juggernaut. We both hate him with a passion. "Anyways, he says that there's a large semi truck carrying a trailer load of cocaine, and he wants them in his storage at the Petalburg docks."

"Wow that's a lot. Does he really fucking expect me to take another bullet, Dialga!" I yelled agitated by this task. Celsius lowered her head from my stress relieving cursing. I rested my head on my hands in a slump matter. Ditto finally finished up suturing and left the room. I lied back on the bed putting my hands to my face from being aggravated. I sighed staring at the ceiling.

"Look I know that Juggernaut has been a total asshole to us since day one, but please don't be down about it," Celsius said rubbing my back but avoiding my wound.

"He's more than an asshole, he's our fucking enemy. I try to bear with his attitude, but my mind is about to blow. How stupid could I be? Why did I choose for us to stay here?" I let out another sigh. "I'm sorry that we have been going through so much these past few months. I feel like such a bad pokémon trainer."

"No you're not! You have taken great care of me my whole life. Now you are trying your hardest to do it. You always brought me up whenever I was down, and now it's my turn to cheer you up but I can't… I can't find the words to do it, Master. It's hard."

I made a chuckle at her effort. She's so loyal to me, damn I love her for it. "You just being by my side through this is all I need to be cheered up. Thank you so much for being such a good friend; you're all I got left, Celsius."

"My pleasure, I try my best," she finally smiled.

I got up and walked over to the dirty vanity in the room and looked at myself in the mirror. Much has changed about me. I'm not the happy, lucky kid anymore. I'm now constantly pissed off from the abuse and guilt I keep getting which in return has literally permanently plastered an intimidating, pissed off look on my face. I know my facial expression now always looks aggressive, even if I try to smile I still look intimidating, but then again there's no reason to smile anymore. When ever we go to a drug meet I always hear comments about my expression since it's rare to see an intimidating child with a gun. I just constantly look serious now whether I eat, sleep, brush my teeth, just about any time of the day. My eyes seem to show anger all the time as I incidentally keep them pressed down with a light frown, but I don't always mean it to other people. It's now a habit. It's just sometimes now I feel like… dying. I don't know what this feeling is called, but I can recall Celsius calling it hopelessness and depression. She cried when I told her that I don't want to live anymore. Luckily, my only goal in life kept me from blowing my brains out.

What changed most about my appearance though is my hair. It used to be cut to a one centimeter length Fade Cut, but that was when my family was still there. Eventually, my hair grew out, really grew out long since it's been over a year since it was cut, but I was familiar with that. It grew to the back of my neck and covered up my ears but I never bothered cutting it myself. As long as it won't go down below my shoulders I don't mind keeping it; it might help change my identity because I might never know but the Mafia might be searching for me if they know I'm still alive. Looking more at myself, I don't know why, but it grew out more on the left side, covering my left eye all on its own, like the opposite of a bald spot. The other side stays above my right eye covering half of my forehead. So my left eye is covered to the point that the longest tip of my hair is an inch below my eye, but my right eye will always show. I cut my hair when needed, and Celsius seems to admire my hair style, probably the new look I guess. I didn't like it at first, but I got used to it overtime. At least it's still black and soft. I guess Celsius thinks its cool looking.

Plus, not just my hair and facial expression changed, but I noticed over the months how I began to change my personality. Celsius told me how I acted all the time. She described me as being quieter than normal, frustrated, and depressed, and she wants to help me because it's extremely unhealthy for me to be this stressed when I'm only eight; then again a lot of traits that I have shouldn't be given to me this young! Well no shit I'm so called 'depressed'. I got Celsius and myself into deep trouble. Now I don't know when it'll be over.

"You okay Master?" Celsius asked snapping me out of my long train of thoughts.

Staring wearily at the mirror probably worried her. "Yeah fine." The image I see in the mirror is a freak! Looking at the mirror once more I noticed a new radical change. I lifted the tuft of hair and found that my left eye is light blue but my right is still dark brown! What the hell? I looked closer and saw some blue covered up all of my pupil and part of my eye coloring. "Celsius come look at this!"

My combusken companion got up and quickly looked at to where I was pointing. "What the hell! Y-your eye!" she freaked.

"Yeah it's blue! What's wrong with it!" I now began panicking from seeing her freaked out.

"No, it's not even like your eye color changed; your pupil is covered! Can you still see out of that eye? Is your vision bad?" she questioned still looking closely at my left eye.

"No, it's still good-"

"Your iris color is not what changed though, they're still brown, it's your pupils! It's like you have a cataract but you can still see." She still freaked out but more in astonishment.

Deciding to ignore it for now, I lied back on the bed. "Just forget about it. I can still see and I'm not in pain, so let's just forget about it."

"But Master, I think that's caused from your stress…"

"I don't care right now. Can we just please forget about it, Celsius? Just relax, please." From her expression, she saw past my words and glanced deep into my thoughts. She knew I was down. I'm always down not giving a damn about anything anymore but Celsius who's very important to my life.

"What are we going do for the rest of the evening? Just sleep as usual to wade out the time… and your eye," she pointed out lying next to me.

"Yeah, same shit… unless if you have something planned, we're basically in a prison cell right now, and please, please don't worry about this eye," I stated becoming impatient.

"Good point. Sorry Master, I didn't mean to irritate you."

I didn't even notice I sounded irritated. "You didn't do anything wrong," I responded, involuntarily leaving hints of irritation. "You're the best pokémon anyone could ever wish to have, and I mean it." I calmed myself back down as fast I had gotten aggravated with her nagging.

At this she began tearing up. I have no idea why, I mean I always complement her. "Please don't be so depressed all the time," she sobbed with tears rushing down her face soaking up the sheets… and my heart, "It hurts me to see you so down about every thing." She still lied there facing me with worried, teary eyes. "Do you know how bad it hurts… when a pokémon sees their master is never happy anymore? It's…it's like a parent and a child…" she sobbed.

In return I rubbed the back of her neck to calm her down, but to no avail. Does she know how bad it hurts when a friend sees their pokémon friend never happy, especially when they're unhappy because of their own owner? The normally calm Celsius is now showing signs of depression too. When will our chance come to get out of this? What if I did decide to end this…right now… and kill us both because this all hurts so fucking much to bear? No, no, no! Damn it, I can't think that way, fuck, fuck, fuck!

What is wrong with me right now! I have to fight these sick thoughts! Celsius can't bear to see me dead, and I can't kill her, she's the only family I have at present. And at least I'll keep one Arceus damn promise to myself, and it's the last and only promise I'll ever make again: Destroy the people that killed my family!

Celsius continued to cry as I tried to soothe her now that I felt a little more positive. However, I felt so bad that I caused her to cry the way she is right now, but eventually she fell asleep and I kept her warmth beside me where I followed with her.

While waiting for Juggernauts orders for today's task, or any task, I would lie on the bed and stare at the ceiling all day. Nothing to do, but wait for neglect. From yesterday's sleeping schedule, I woke up early in the morning. At least I got up to wash, but that was it. Celsius would also stare up at the ceiling with me. Pokémon feel what their trainers or owners feel. Staring at the brown water stains on the worn down ceiling, and thinking about dumb mistakes would surprisingly kill time. I'm always ready to go in a minutes notice. Maybe this is why I'm so depressed: I think too damn much and always ask myself questions that can never be answered. I'm like a thinker now but without a good philosophy.

"Is that all you fucking do all day! You two just stare up at the wall, huh? C'mon, we got shit to do." Juggernaut woke me up from my day dream as he was finally ready for today.

We both got up and walked out of the room. I turned the corner but was surprised by searing pain as Juggernaut gripped my hair, worst part about long hair, and threw me to the floor. Catching myself, I glared up at him with a serious pissed off look in my eyes that I could feel the tension build up. Now what!

"You lucky I saved your asses that day or you'd be out there struggling for some fucking dinner right now. Well you always eat half the damn fridge, so now you got to pay back and get this package safely to storage with me. We can't fuck up; this is the most important run you'll probably ever get."

Yeah, okay. You're lucky that we even found you. There have been countless times that we have saved your ass, and you look at it like its nothing. Arceus damn it; I wish I could say what I'm thinking right now! Oh, and I eat because I work myself to death to keep my strength as well as Celsius.

Trying so hard to fight the urge to pull out my MAC-10 on his dumb ass, we walked out of the warehouse to his truck. The time of day was dusk but I took the shitty scenery for granted and just got in the pick up truck with Celsius. The pickup truck, probably stolen, supplied illegal weapons in the back that's supposed to be for the following drug deals. From the looks of this mission, we might have to use them for the first time today. Ditto turned into a red stream of light and was pulled into his pokeball as Juggernaut returned him.

"I should've mother fucking bought you a poke ball. I hate it when tools are left out damn it! Too much space taken up, especially if they scorch up the fucking seats!" he yelled lighting up a cigarette.

Whoa, what did you say? Celsius was growling uncontrollably until he punched her across the face. Celsius cried out and that was when I almost lost control myself, but we both knew that this man must stay alive until we meet the Don. If it wasn't for that, Celsius and I would've shot his knees and left him to die long ago. Celsius was recovering from the hit while I couldn't do anything but watch sadly. Arceus, I hate it when I can't defend her or myself. I held Celsius closely actually trying to protect her from Juggernaut as I tucked her close to my side. From now on Juggernaut will be the only person in the whole world to get away with hurting my pokémon, but he'll pay for it one day.

Upon arrival to the location of the semi truck, we searched carefully and found no one guarding the trailer that would cause an ambush. The first time something was left alone. The trailer was in a large semi trailer depot where several dozens of other trailers and cabins were parked. Juggernaut remembered the description of the cabin, so as soon as we found it, we opened up the large white trailer to find the whole entire space taken up by packaged cocaine bricks! I've been in many drug deals and with this amount of weight combined we're practically standing in front of a mansion with possibly several exotic cars, private jets, and butlers! Arceus if we're caught with this we'll be in a world of shit.

"Well what are you waiting for? Get in the truck! Fucking Palkia, always slow on everything. And keep Celsius in the back to, you know, find any suspicious things like cameras, audio bugs; can't get the feds up our asses in this one."

Celsius got in while I proceeded to the large cabin. The door was locked, but Juggernaut ordered Celsius to kick the window in. Having no choice but to follow his order, she leapt several feet into the air and kicked in the window on my side. I then reached in to unlock the door. I climbed into the light blue cabin and from what Juggernaut had taught me I hot wired the truck. He taught me other things too, but I might not have to use those skills later on…hopefully. Celsius walked around the back and into the trailer. Hope the smell won't get to her. Once Juggernaut closed and locked up the trailer with Celsius in it I unlocked the driver's side to let him in as I buckled up. He switched gears then began pulling out of the depot. Destination: the storage in the docks connecting to routes 104 and Petalburg City. This is going to be a five and a half hour long trip down Intercity 104.

We passed through Petalburg Woods eventually since the highway cut directly through the forest. Arceus, it's difficult for me to come back here now... Well now I can't keep promises anymore. Now that I failed Riolu and Ralts how can I promise anyone else anything? That's why I vowed to stop making promises since I don't trust them myself; if I fail a promise I feel like I'm lying to the person, or pokémon, that I made that promise to. After all my dad promised me he would come back alive. I don't care if it's important because I can't guaranty that I'll return promises. I was so upset from letting them both down, and I was a boy of my words…

It's dark out, and the only thing that was keeping me up was the scenery of Petalburg Woods. The road even cut right through the thickest, densest area of the forest as I stared at the beautiful vegetation within my panoramic view. The pokémon out there are either sleeping or hunting depending on their type. I hope this road didn't cause too much deforestation issues destroying their habitat. If I could become a trainer…wow, I would be out on that trail somewhere camping out with Celsius and the pokémon that I would capture on the way. Now, I think that dream is impossible for me to-

"How're you doin Jon?" Juggernaut had spoken which got me out of my daze.

"Fine, just trying to keep awake."

"Just sleep. You might need the energy." He was silent before saying some words of lies, "Oh, and thanks for protecting my ass on this one. I know I never showed or said it but you remind me of my nephew, a loyal kid I watched over."

"Welcome," I replied as calmly as I could, and I could care less about his past.

But that is pure tauros shit! When ever you apologize or say thanks you never ever mean it. You only do that in missions so I won't sneak up behind you and blow your head off. Man I wish- I absolutely wish I could say that loud and clearly!

Around twenty minutes remained in this ride, and so far there hasn't been anyone following us. I chose to doze off and block out what ever Juggernaut had to say.

I shut my lids to rest and lied on the door. I began pondering if Celsius is okay back there for the hundredth time on this ride. Is she awake, asleep, or sick back there? While musing I flinched violently and smacked my shoulder involuntarily waking myself up. I could've sworn I felt something slither up my shoulder! I tapped around that area checking for whatever did that and felt a thick smooth, almost slick like rope coil around my neck causing me to yell in surprise before the "rope" pulled me back against the head rest of my seat suffocating me! I left everything that was happening presently behind me mentally once I was hit with extreme confusion and panic from the unexpected wake up call. The string, or whatever, kept tugging me back forcibly against the head rest knocking more air out of my wind pipe! Frantically, I looked at my side mirror and found a purple figure illuminate every time we passed under the expressway's light poles. A Tangela was using vine whip to choke me out and it was strong! Looking around I began reaching out and hitting Juggernaut to quickly get his attention but then immediately caught that Juggernaut was getting strangled too! I was losing oxygen fast trying to grab the vines but I was losing my energy too. The giant semi began swerving out of control as Juggernaut tried to free himself also. I was terrified and trying to counter the vines, like countering a sitting headlock, but I couldn't get hold of the pokémon since the whips were too long.

"Shoot it Jon!" he gagged, "Sh-sh… fucking shoot it!"

As much as I wanted to pull out my machine pistol I couldn't bring myself to shoot the pokémon. I'm not staining my hands in pokémon blood. Damn it, if only Celsius was here!

**(POV)**

"What the hell!" I panicked from losing balance without warning. I planted my feet on the ground but in vain as I got thrown to the side of the trailer hitting my head on the metal framing. "What's Juggernaut's fucking problem!" I yelled in agitation before getting thrown to the opposite side again from the trailer swerving side to side.

Something must be wrong with Master, if Juggernaut's losing control! I ran all the way to the front of the trailer and luckily found a small window near the top. I jumped up to grab the sill and I clearly saw, through the rear cabin window, that something was choking him and Juggernaut! I lost balance and fell on some of the boxes from the swerving once I took in the frightening sight. My heart skipped a beat from the thought of seeing Master die. No, Mater's going to die if I don't stop that thing! I began quickly thinking of a solution to get me in that cabin. My adrenaline was racing from all of the swerving and Master's possible chance of dying. Not wanting to lose him this leaves me no choice; I have to leap from this window to the cabin window for Master's sake.

"Wait for me, Master," I prayed.

I got back to my feet and climbed on some of the bricks below the window. What separated the cabin window from my window was a gap a little over a yard in distance that was connecting the trailer to the cabin, but from risk of this stunt caused the distance to appear much bigger. I froze at the thought of falling through and letting the tires run over my body, but I forced my fears out of me for the love of my Master's life; I can't lose him now after we've come so far! Shattering the window I heard wind rushing through the opening and tires screeching on the asphalt. The cabin kept on changing directions, which caused the cabin window to go with it. I quickly jumped back down to find a hard object to throw through their window. Master is going to suffocate or the truck will flip over if I don't hurry! I finally found a large padlock. I climbed back on to the boxes in front of the hole. Without even thinking I chucked the padlock at the cabin window, and luckily didn't miss. I waited for the windows to be aligned again; as soon as they were I bounded through the gap without hesitation. No one messes with Rayn! All I cared and thought about through the leap was Master's safety. I prayed for what felt like an eternity to Arceus that I would make the jump. My prayer wasn't answered as the cabin swerved while I was midair and the window turned to my left. Falling, I panicked trying to grab something to hang on to. For a split second I saw myself falling between the tires and had the deadly thought of me getting crushed to road kill! I then felt something go in between my claws, a red coiled wire connecting the trailer to the truck. I held on to get grip, tucked my legs up when I saw they were close to touching a giant tire below, and began climbing up the wire. I had to be careful and not cut the wire with my claws causing me to be more precise than fast. Before I reached the top the tangela popped out from the window glaring at me.

"Oh no you don't!" I yelled firing an ember attack which got a direct hit in his face.

The small flames still did lethal damage as the yellow, red masses quickly consumed all of his tentacles turning him into a fireball. Being a grass type, he gave off deafening screeches the whole time, and that's when I jumped into the cabin. I grabbed the scorched tangela that was almost losing consciousness and threw him out of the window I just appeared from. Master doesn't mind if I take a pokémon's life as long as it was a lethal threat and I was the one to get rid of it, thankfully.

After that ordeal, Master was gasping for air and grasping his neck in pain. I jumped to Juggernaut's side and grabbed the steering wheel to regain control of the semi before it could turn over.

"Don't ever risk your life like that again!" Master gasped, "Fuck you could've fallen," he yelled with a pissed off expression which almost had me greatly heart broken. "But I can't thank you enough for saving me; I would've died if you weren't such a dare Giratina!" He cheered and hugged me from his seat which had me greatly relieved! Don't worry; I won't let myself be taken without you knowing my true feelings for you…

**(POV)**

"Your welcome, but you know me. Ever since I evolved I've been a little crazy, especially since we have to do these damn deals with asshole here," Celsius giggled. I have to agree, Celsius has gotten crazier ever since she evolved, but combusken do tend to be wilder than their previous form and that's what I love about her.

"A little, you just leapt through a window with a deadly fall beneath you," I laughed which is the first in months!

"Okay shut up you two dumb fucks; I don't want that shit to ever happen again!" Juggernaut ordered. "Fuck!" he yelled hammering the steering wheel with his fist causing both Celsius and I to jump, "You should've checked the cabin for any threats before we left!" he finished glaring directly at me like I was the one at fault.

At this Celsius and I both stayed silent. For once in months I laughed with Celsius, and Juggernaut just ruined it. I do hope that there won't be anymore distractions though.

Our hopes were answered as we pulled up into the storage depot. Juggernaut parked the truck in a large garage and we exited, but not even a minute passed after we finally got out when multiple vehicles drove over to our location in a small convoy and stopped in front of us! All of them were black sedans that looked like they've just been waxed to shimmer, so they weren't cops. Each headlight faced Celsius, I, and Juggernaut. We saw a few men with M-16 assault rifles coming out of the vehicles, all of them with a green marking on the sleeves of their suits. That's when we readied our own guns, while Celsius began growling. This could be part of the Mafia. The bad thing is that this is the biggest crowd of armed men we had ever fought. There's over twenty of them when there is normally only around five!

"So this is where you put all of the packages that we've been searching for." One of them, their head in their gang I assume, was scanning around the depot. Just who is this guy?

"This is part of my boss' rival family. The Bartolomeo Family and they've been trying to fuck up my boss' business. Must be hitmen," Juggernaut said to me.

"That's fairly correct," he interrupted after overhearing, "We've been tracking your every move, asshole, and now I've waited for every Arceus damn trailer in this depot to be filled with enough coke to by a whole region with!" I glared at the guy who was talking while cocking back my machine pistol. "Oh, and you brought your little slave with you? How low can you be, using little kids to help out run drugs?" he stated which caused all of his men to laugh. "Don't go easy on him," he then ordered his men, "This kid may be a small little boy probably about to complete school, but I've seen him before and he's not a pushover," he finished to which a few of his men snickered to.

"Boss, but he's just a child! We can't possibly shoot him to death-"

"I don't give a damn how young our rivals are, so grow some fucking balls and shoot if needed!" he yelled dominating his whole gang not to mention the man that spoke out bravely.

"Oh, you're going to need it, I ain't going out without taking you fucks with me!" Juggernaut interjected like he's been in this situation before.

"Now I'm afraid that you and your little body guard there must get out of our way, you're making a stupid mistake. Oh and don't forget that annoying orange thing too," he concluded.

"What! What did you just call Celsius?" Now I was pissed that he called my pokémon a thing. I was about to attack before his men beat me to it. Rapid fire shots echoed through the whole depot that it was enough to get my ears ringing deaf! In an instant, I shielded Celsius and rolled next to a metal crate near by feeling a few rounds impact my armor and forearm armor sleeves as I shielded my face and Celsius with them.

"Dialga, how can we fight through, there's too many of them!" I yelled aloud as sparks flew next to my face from the metal contact. This is probably the third or fourth war I've been in but this is the biggest. I froze from the thought of dying with Celsius without completing our goal. That thought had my heart racing faster than it was once those men pulled up; it really gave me a bad chilly feeling I've never felt before. It's like Darkrai is directly behind me but at the same moment my adrenaline is pumping! We can't die now! I heard a storm of bullets ricochet off the metal crate I was hiding behind. I pressed my back against the crate as I peeked through the side. I instantly pulled my head back as some fragments almost ran into my face. I can't fire. There's way too Arceus damn many of them! I glanced over at Celius who was covering her head and ears with her hands while doubled over.

"Shit, Jon, you have to shoot or else we'll get pinned down by those fucks! I know you haven't been in a gun fight this big before but all you have to do is know a fucker's location and shoot at his cover. Do that to all those bitches you see! Keep your head out for less than two seconds or you'll get hit. And I don't think a little Uzi will be accurate enough! Here, take this instead!" Juggernaut threw an AK-47 at my feet from his own hiding spot. "Don't let them take anything from here!"

I tried getting in all of the info he was telling me from the noise. I then nodded and picked up the rifle next to my feet which was well over half my height in length! He then threw a few magazine cartridges at me which I tucked away in my pants. Then I took aim and started shooting randomly at some of their cover for a few seconds before pulling back and even blind fired a few times. Its four beings versus over 15 men!

This is way too much for us. I tried to peak out to find where the gunmen were hiding only spotting two before almost getting my face shot off as sparks flew at me. "Stay behind me Celsius at all times!"

I was way too scared to move an inch as I faced the opposite side of my cover about to try and pop out the other side. I turned around which was where I jumped when I saw one of those guys run past my cover, but he was stumbling around dragging his rifle with a hand over his gut before falling forward next to Celsius with a ton of blood splattering around his now dead form. I looked at Juggernaut who yelled, "I got your back, now shoot damn it!" he yelled before stepping out of his cover to fire at more of those guys.

I waited until there wasn't anymore gunfire, and then I peaked half of my body out this time with my rifle and shot at one of the two men who one was reloading while his head was still out of cover. I was startled by the recoil and blinded by the bright muzzle flashes but I fought it until my fifth 7.62 round got the guy in the back of his skull as I clearly saw a third of his head blown away in numerous blood caked chunks and crimson dark strings.

"Holy Shit!" someone yelled when they saw me kill their ally which was my cue to get behind cover.

Another man who I didn't see before started shooting at me followed by everyone else. I wanted to conserve as much ammo as I can instead of shooting a whole magazine cartridge at one person. I took a quick glance at Celsius who looked helpless and apologetic while frightened at the same time. I peaked out but got shot in the side from not being fast enough but it didn't penetrate my armor so I got back in cover before another round hit me. Juggernaut was getting his share amount of kills as well as I which clearly startled everyone present at the shootout to the point that it distracted many of them.

"What the fuck is wrong with that kid! That's fucking impossible-" one of the gunmen screamed with all his power before being silenced by Juggernaut as I was behind cover.

Eventually the number of gun shots narrowed down all the way to the last man. When he stopped shooting to reload I stood out of my cover waiting for him to come out and when he did a bullet from my AK went through his nose out the other side of his head with pieces of bone fragments following the blood strings.

After we cleared the area, which felt like an hour long battle but surprisingly only three minutes, we started advancing to the large building that Juggernaut keeps most of his drug packages at. I don't know how I'm still alive; all I know is that I was shot a lot of times but saved by this armor. Thanks Dad! Juggernaut knows some of the men ran inside this building once the fire fight had started. I pressed the cartridge release trigger in front of the firing trigger to jettison my half empty magazine and shove a new one in the receiver of the AK to ready the gun for another fight. I made sure that Celsius stayed behind me and was ready to defend me against any men that got close to us. We got inside and saw a hoard of men clearing out the boxes and placing them in two parked moving vans outside the building. We began opening fire at them and shot a few men before they managed to get in cover. Ricochet noises were heard all over the building from the metal contacts. The pile of boxes created a maze in the structure I noticed as I skulked around carefully. Now getting used to this battle, I made my way through the hallways of boxes while Celsius was following behind closely. Lots of men popped out and fired relentlessly, but I killed them with no sweat even though I felt impacts from bullets. I had to really get in cover for a minute to wait for my armor to regenerate when I was hit way too much. Just as long I don't get shot in the head I'll be fine. One of them had a Scyther ready to attack. The green bug pokémon began wielding his natural born scythes at me.

"Male Scyther ahead!" I identified the encounter to Celsius.

That's where Celsius comes in. As soon as I point to a target and announce the name, she goes in front of me to prepare for combat. She had dodged all of the scyther's slashes, and eventually found an opening and gave him a double kick followed by some punches with the points of her claws exposed out which stunned and knocked him out. Combat for her lasts around five seconds normally. I found the pokeball from the person that controlled him and I shattered it which would free the scyther from the pokeball's mental hold.

After killing all of the gunmen, Celsius and I walked out and found the leader climbing a ladder onto a roof of an even larger industrial building. On the roof top were more shooters and some snipers.

"Oh Arceus!" I yelled taking cover as soon as one of the snipers shot at me. Celsius had a close call from a bullet which is one of the many reasons why I hate bringing Celsius out in a gun fight.

Juggernaut came out of the previous storage building and killed the two snipers with only one shot each, one of which falling off the roof. I ran over to the ladder, but as soon as I grabbed it someone popped out from the shadows and started swinging a knife at me. I jumped back out of instinct but didn't react to his lunge fast enough which got the blade through my armor and me in my chest. I fell on my knees clenching my chest and panicked from knowing I could die! I didn't feel any burning or pain since my adrenaline is at an all high but I was starting to tremble in great fear. All I cared for was Celsius safety.

"Celsius… get back!" I commanded her with the rest of the diminishing strength I had left as another Scyther jumped from the same area as this guy with the knife originated from.

"Master, are you wounded?" She yelled almost in a worried tone while defending herself from the Scyther. I clenched my wound and fell back on the ground as the familiar dark, almost black red liquid poured out of the gash and onto my hands staining my shirt. I was bleeding out badly... "Master, what happened!" I heard Celsius scream before my ears became plugged and all I heard was ringing and my weak heart beat thumping in an eerie volume that overtook every other sound.

Fuck… I could die. I was losing too much blood too fast. The man that stabbed me was walking towards my half dead form in front of me about to finish off his kill. I couldn't feel my arms and legs for a few seconds! Suddenly out of nowhere, all my senses returned to normal…better than normal! It was like I just got healed to one-hundred-ten percent out of nowhere!

"Whoa," I spoke to no one, this feeling felt intense!

I kicked the guy with the knife in the knee and twisted around so that I stood up on my hands to deliver a handstand kick to his chin which knocked the knife out of his hands. Holy shit, I feel stronger than ever too! I haven't used that move since I drilled on it with Lucario. How the fuck am I doing this? I feel no pain or fatigue! I quickly landed on my feet, swept over to smoothly grip the knife off the concrete ground, and then took him to the ground before his knee could recover. How did I do all of this with a wound on my chest… that's still bleeding?

He turned towards me while on the ground and in a surge of rage originating from nowhere but from him trying to kill me I began slashing, stabbing, and twisting the knife in him on every part of his body as much as possible. I wanted him to suffer! I cut left to right, up and down, stabbing and twisting forcing loud blood curdling screams out of him but the screams didn't even effect me; I wanted him to endure tremendous pain for trying to kill me and my pokémon! Something overtook my mind as I forced all the blood out of his body with the cuts of the knife. Red stains flew up every where as I was slowly torturing him to death, which was my goal to end his life. I think Celsius was crying out my name in fear from the aggression I showed, but I ignored it, I ignored it all. Judging from my anger I probably looked like a relentless psycho on top of this guy. After a dozen cuts and screams out of him I stuck the blade into his eye which silenced him.

I got up and felt the need to survey my work. The corpse resembled a wired fence to describe it briefly. Dozens of wide gaping holes showed the shredded, mangled remains of blood soaked flesh, I looked over the part where I actually took my hands and tore the skin off his chest which revealed bare white ribs with a few of them marinating in blood giving some of them a distinctive orange color, and strings of intestines were poking through the many cavities on his abdomen. This image did not even scare me one bit.

It was like some kind of force took over my body. It really felt like a rush of energy and emotions: relief, strength, anger. This was all way too overwhelming. I bled out, got up, and tortured this man and it doesn't even scare me; how! I dropped the knife and now started feeling powerless and sick from over analyzing too much over this force. I didn't even care that Celsius was watching me kill this guy the whole time. I didn't notice anything around me the whole time. I looked at my wound to notice it was right over the spot where my heart should be and according to medical science it's impossible for anyone to survive a stab to the heart. What the hell is going on? I survived a gun battle, a bleed out, and killed men in the process with one tortured to death satisfying my unknown origin of blood lust. So far my case has been astounding.

"What the hell are you doing, Jon!" Juggernaut was sprinting to my location. "Get your ass up, and go kill the fucker in charge! You better not let him get away!" he demanded as he pulled me up and shoved me to the ladder. My face hit the metal bar hard enough to make it ring out from the hollow metal contact, but that didn't even bother me. It's like I feel no pain.

I glanced over at Celsius and noticed that if I took a step closer to her she stepped back. She's scared out of her mind now I bet; maybe those fuckers will feel the same way once I get up this ladder and kill them. I can hear myself laughing hysterically in my mind in a no happy, sadistic fashion, but damn this feels amazing... Wait, I don't even care if my own pokémon, my only family is troubled? Haha, what the fuck is wrong with me, haha! Celsius and I proceeded to the ladder and we began going up. I couldn't help but wonder how I can still have this much energy left when I just lost all that blood! What in Arceus's fucking name is happening to me! I think I really am losing my mind. I looked at my wound again. It's cleanly over my still beating heart that's staining my shirt red. I'm invincible right now, assholes!

"Celsius, I don't know what's going on! Something's happening to me!" I called over to Celsius who was climbing below me.

"I'm scared, Master!"

"No I mean I feel incredibly strong right now! Nothing is hurting. Why do you think so?"

"I-I…" she stuttered, "I don't know."

"Wait, why did you stutter the answer? Do you actually know what's been going on with my changes?" This new force is causing me to point out less obvious but potential clues now within Celsius, which means it's probably for every other similar case I encounter too.

"I don't know anything, Master, I swear it!" she called out.

When we reached the top I saw the leader getting in a helicopter with two other men. I ran to the helicopter, but before I reached it the pilot took off.

"Shit, he's getting away!" I cursed to myself.

Before I could even think of a solution, my wound started getting a little painful and the intensity of it was building up fast! I grunted hard and clenched it trying to relieve myself from the intense pain. I coughed hard from the pain feeling like its hitting me in the chest finding that some blood flew forward as I coughed more. I couldn't bear it anymore! I fell to the ground and gazed at the wound and knew this was it! Fuck, I am dying, this can't be! I felt Celsius familiar warm presence of her hands gripping my face. I glance up for a second and could see her crying greatly with her beak moving frantically but no sounds came because I couldn't hear anything just like before where my ears are plugged! I looked back at my wound… it was glowing… blue rays of light shown through the hole then turned green. Holy fuck! What is going on with my body! I really began getting scared, almost panicking in my head. I don't know what's going to happen to me! Am I dying or am I going to erupt then blow up in an intense light show or some crazy idea like that because what I'm seeing here is extreme! The opening was starting to close as some kind of dark green steam-like haze drifted out of the hole as it was slowly narrowing! My wound was closing! Then I felt another sharp pain, but it was in my head directly around my temples and the back of my skull. I grabbed my skull tightly and started rolling onto the ground uncontrollably meaninglessly trying to take out the pain while clenching my eyes shut hard enough to burst a blood vessel. Shit, my head was seriously hurting like something was piercing my brain or something! My hearing came back in overwhelming waves of sounds just like I clicked the play button on a movie with the volume set high hearing Celsius screaming my name in shock and fear, but she couldn't do anything but watch and I couldn't calm her down. After what felt like several minutes the pain finally went away. I was limp and could barely move; am I dead?

I opened my eyes after the pain fully subsided. So I'm not dead but… everything looks… different…Everything looks different. All of the objects around me were in some kind of blue, white, and black colored shading. Oh my Arceus, what the hell just happened to me? Is this what Heaven looks like? I looked at my hands carefully scanning my fingers as they bent then I looked around my surroundings and my vision was like sonar. I kept seeing waves in front of me bending around the shapes and forms of all objects in sight which then momentarily brightly illuminated all objects in my field of vision before they faded back to a dim blue and then was brightly illuminated again! I can't describe it, but I could still see everything clearly. Even though they all seemed like the same color every little object was identifiable with bold outlines. It was even better than… my normal vision; like a sixth sense!

I looked at Celsius and I could see all of her outlines of her features: each and every feather within the darkest core shadows of her form, her beak, claws and edges of them as well as areas showing signs of dulling, eyes, and even little parts of her eyes were outlined separately! But within the outlines, in the shape of her combusken body, were different mixes of colorful looking "clouds"! I could also somehow hear and even see her thoughts in actual light blue colored text next to her head as I some how accidently looked through her head. Her thoughts were somehow and someway translated to me; she was scared and afraid of my state.

"Master, what's happening to you?" When she talked she was actually speaking English this time and not her combusken tongue!

Normally I could still understand her if she spoke her native tongue, but she spoke English in an actual real feminine voice, but there was lots of fright in the tone. I then saw outlines of tears on her face. Then somehow I knew there was a danger behind me like some unknown force had just warned me. I looked up and clearly saw the helicopter that took off fly back towards my direction. When I looked at the helicopter I saw bodies through the walls of the interior readying their rifles. If I focus my vision I could see through objects; Dialga Palkia, this is phenomenal!

The bodies inside were shaded all with red this time instead of different colors, and I could clearly see the type of guns they had: Scoped M-4's. The entire chopper and everyone inside were brighter than all the other objects in sight in red and orange coloring. It's like this sense was highlighting the danger for me. I focused my vision on their minds and then I was taken aback as I involuntarily grabbed Celsius, tucked her towards my torso with my arms, and jumped and rolled out of the way like I was being controlled! They began firing at me at the exact same moment that I leapt out of the way; if I had stood there any longer I would've been hit in the foot at least. That's when I saw that there thoughts were like debates and countdowns in their heads of when to shoot and I saw where they would aim next. I rolled behind the roof access door for cover with Celsius. After the chopper passed above my head, I could hear them yelling in astonishment from me rolling to dodge their rounds. I could also hear far distances too over louder sounds! I actually heard them communicating with each other over the loud sounds of the rotor blades slicing the air. Just what is this new… "power"? I saw the pilot, and his thoughts were to turn around and fly above me again in another pass.

"Stay here," I ordered Celsius as I kept her behind the door. As I walked away calmly I actually heard her thoughts and not her voice, difference being the slight echoing tone. "I'm going to stop that chopper," I spoke looking back at her. Her new thoughts formed and they were about my eyes. Looks like they're both light blue this time covering up both pupils and irises even having the left one glow bright through my hair; very interesting…

As the helicopter was about to fly above me, the men inside began deciding when to fire at me in their thoughts. As soon as I read that they perceive the thought "shoot" I rolled out of the way again before they could even react to their thoughts and pull their triggers; this time I controlled myself and went behind a wall as they shot at me.

Getting used to my new power, I began trying to find a way to end this. I then found an M40 bolt-action sniper rifle left from the dead snipers. The entire object was glowing brighter than anything else like as if my power is telling me that's a perfect weapon. But only the best snipers in the world can shoot people in a flying object, let alone with a rifle commissioned for Marine Core Scout Snipers only! I grabbed it anyways and looked through the scope. My vision is even better than I thought! Matter of fact my focus and resolution is even somehow better than my old vision. Something told me the helicopter was flying to my right. I aimed to my right and had the chopper in sight.

"How am I supposed to shoot a fast flying vehicle down with a sniper rifle?"

As I asked that, some kind of yellow clouded dot appeared in the center of the scope. I then noticed where ever the wind blew the dot followed the direction. It's like this dot can predict where the bullet will hit by using the natural factors around me that can affect the bullet! So this power can predict bullet trajectory too? My eyes are adjusting to my surroundings and sights. I took aim again at the pilot. The chopper was flying towards my left so I aimed in front of the pilot until the dot was directly positioned on his head at an angle of attack. The actual crosshairs was positioned way too the left of the pilot but instead of turning the dials on the scope to adjust the crosshairs I just gave attention to the yellow, cloudy dot. Then I pulled the trigger and momentarily deafened by the shot of this powerful rifle. Just as the dot predicted, the pilot was hit in his cranium while the blood was colored white in my vision. The helicopter started diving towards the ocean in front of the depot once the body fell on top of the joystick controlling the aircraft. As soon as it crashed I tried running to go check the site with my vision, but when I was trying to run instead my line of sight just went to the crash site without me even moving my limbs. It was like my own eyes were flying cameras as it flew to the crash site because my sight was right over it, except I'm supposed to be on a roof top; holy crap this feels amazing! When I looked through the wreckage I found the bodies, but there wasn't any kind of colored cloud in them. My eyes can detect life! Wow, what can't this power do! Then I found out how to control this new feature. If I concentrate and focus hard enough I can zoom in and out. My vision had a flyer's eye view of the entire depot, and the vision stretched out for miles. Miles away from me, I could see other life around our location, and their thoughts and possessions. I also unintentionally looked through some clothing of people and walls of buildings.

I began moving my sights around until I found myself! Like a flying type, I zoomed in to find my eyes were still in my head. The only thing different about me was that I have a lot more light blue and white haze in my body than all the other body around me. Compared to everything else I looked like a light bulb of blue and white! I tried experimenting to see if my body could still move by trying to pull back the bolt on the rifle, but if I tried moving my right arm back my vision flew right and slightly back instead of my arm. So limb movement controls this movement. Then it hit me as I realized what I have been looking at this entire time: Aura. Lucario described to me what it was like to have that kind of power, and now I'm looking at it, but I thought only a few humans can have this power if they're born with it. Fuck, it all makes sense now! Arceus, why I'm still alive today is because of this power that I have had this entire time without even knowing! How I can take pain, how I can lose so much blood, how I can kill someone and not be traumatized that long, how I can make correct decisions in a life threatening situations, even how I'm really smart for my age and strong, it all adds up! But now new questions arise: Why do I have this power? Why was I given this power? No one in my family has ever had aura, right, so I shouldn't even have it.

"M-Master?"

"Celsius?" I asked focusing on her. My vision then instantly changed and went back to my body as I turned around to find her. Oh shit, my vision stopped! No way… I tried getting it back anyway possible but just by just focusing I turned my entire vision back to Aura, and then back to normal, and back again! I learned all of the commands, but there might be more!

"Master?" Her voice was so feminine, like a beautiful young woman, but she sounded troubled.

"You've been calling me Master this whole time?" I pointed out, "I thought you were calling me by my real name my entire life!"

"Yes… because you are my Master," she replied with confusion in her thoughts.

"Yes Celsius, I can understand each and every word you're saying right now," I answered her question. "I don't know how but I have this new vision. I think I can use the power of Aura." I answered one of her questions.

"A-aura?" She sounded confused and even more troubled as her eyes widened. "Master-"

"Please don't call me Master. You and I are the same; you know that I forget about human and pokémon differences. I am not above you in anyway and anyhow, so call me by my name."

"Rayn, how did you-"

"I don't know. It just came to me."

I read her thoughts before she could even say them and found that there was a negative thought: "It's happening again!" I looked deeper into her mind to figure out what was happening. Weird, if I look in too deep, some kind of block of pink aura won't let me get through; I must not be experienced enough to bypass. Scanning her more I found the thought that's troubling her.

"You knew I had aura? You knew I was capable of this all along!" I confronted her. "How long have you known that?" I asked already knowing the answer, but wanted her to tell me directly.

She sighed nervously. "Look I never wanted to tell you because I thought you were way too young to know, but when we first stayed at Gardevoir's home, Lucario told me that you're fully capable of this power but he doesn't know why." I was waiting for an answer since I wanted her to say it.

"Yes, I can read your thoughts," I answered her other question. "Shit, this explains everything. This explains every mother fucking thing about why I can do so much at the fucking age of eight!" I snapped from the unexpected discovery.

So the reason why I'm smart, strong, and capable of every other shit is all because of aura and not me? Fuck, it's like some of my hopes are down the drain now, but at the same time this is a very good and positive but unbelievable thing.

I saw Celsius' emotions in her mind build up. She had been hiding this to not scare me. Well to tell the truth, I don't even understand; no one understands why I have this power. Do I have a purpose or something, or is this just my turn of luck?

"Jon what the hell is goin on up there?" Juggernaut must be running out of patience.

I stopped thinking and grabbed Celsius and held her tight. Then I jumped off the building. I leapt off and fell around a hundred feet to where Juggernaut was. As I landed, there was some kind of blue aura discharge from my feet in a 360 wavy pattern. Juggernaut and Celsius were astounded greatly. Looks like my strength had increased too.

"The fuck!" He began staring at my eyes. "I think I might be hallucinating. That coke must've gotten to me." He paused then looked at my eyes. "Whoa Jon, what is wrong with your eyes! They're… glowing blue!" he stammered, "Can you still see?

"I don't understand what the hell you're talking about," I lied.

"Fuck, yep I think some coke got in me, just shut up and get in one of the cars! We're getting outta here," He said with irritation.

I nodded proudly. I was actually happy that I have a new power. This can greatly help me take out the entire mafia actually. We all walked over to the cars. Juggernaut seemed a bit wired but I think he's just way over his head. Celsius is very troubled about this whole ordeal so I'll calm her down once we get a car. We passed several mutilated bodies and then heard distant sirens. I entered the back seat of a car as Juggernaut started it up with Celsius next to me. Once I sat down everything started fading to black out of no where.

I couldn't feel anything as all the space around just disappeared into oblivion! Shit, now what's going on? I felt my body spin around whatever space I was in as I tried to regain control of myself. There was nothing at all, just a black, dark void! In the endless black space something was happening though. Random white streams flew all around one spot. The streams of light united and began spinning into a giant colorful vortex.

"Now you have gotten your first experience, Rayn Excal…"

I heard some kind of unfamiliar feminine voice. Then the vortex of white, orange, and yellow started slowly hovering up more. Blue avian-like feet appeared over the spot the vortex had shielded. As the vortex kept going up more of the creature's figure formed into what looked like some kind of flying type. Now almost done with the neck the vortex dissipated which revealed some kind of bird pokémon that illuminated the whole darkness in an array of colorful light rays. Now that I could see I tried putting my hands out in front of me but they weren't there! I couldn't classify the pokémon either, but it does look very familiar; I've seen it some kind of document before haven't I? Her underside was pure white, the bird's main colors of gold and red found on all tail feathers, neck and head, with hints of green around her neck and the edges of the creatures wings. Some kind of yellow appendage curled up on the head where I noted the bright red eyes with distinct eye lashes above them. It was "her" that said the phrase? The same saying was echoing as well as fading away along with the pokémon that had just formed in the darkness. The pokémon disappeared as quickly as she appeared. Then feeling returned once again.

This time I felt my body resting on something softer than the leathery seat I was sitting on. I angled my head up slightly to find I was resting on Celius's soft chest as the rest of my body rested along her form. She was caressing my head and back with the blunt sides of her claws while resting her beak on my shoulder. It didn't take me another second to note that her breasts were directly in front of my face giving me the feeling of how I'm invading her space, but I just decided to sleep on her and forget about that unimportant fact, too comfortable to move, and now feeling too exhausted to think…

"We will see each other again, Rayn Excal…Goodbye…" That faint voice of that pokémon. What does she mean though?

To Be Continued

From here on out there will be blood and lots of it. The first volume is intended to be violent anyways. Read and Review please.

Intercity- Interstate


	6. Chapter 5

AN: Wow this story is somehow still getting a lot of unexpected attention. I'm actually pretty proud! I'm proud of all you readers, new and old, who provide tremendous support and for that I am giving all of you this early gift. Since most of you know I was in the the process of editing previous chapters I'm now massively submitting all completed chapters for your entertainment. More will be on the way shortly. Read and just enjoy! (Can't promise all errors are gone for anything, after all I write without any assistance so no beta or proof readers ever)

AN: Shoot! I just found out while reading these through the web site that all the asterisks that informs readers of a flashback or POV changed have just disappeared. Crap, it must've been deleted while uploaded. I'll fix whatever I can as soon as possible. Sorry for all of the confusion!

Chapter 5: Recruited to My Worst Enemy

I was brought to life rolling around between layers of cloth. Feels like I'm lying on a mattress with a similar feeling to the one I sleep on at the warehouse that's my home. I opened my eyes completely wondering how long I was out. Sitting up back in this familiar cramped up room I noticed that something didn't look right…nothing was blue. Oh wait my aura! I tried to focus in on objects to start up my vision.

"Come on…"

I focused harder but nothing happened, other than my head hurting a little. I looked towards the doorway and saw Celsius sitting on a box next to the door.

"Oh Celsius thank goodness! How are you feeli-" once I got up to greet her she stepped back as if she was scared of me. She was scared of me…I saw fear plastered all over her face as she trembled, and she was looking at me and only me with troubled eyes.

"What's wrong?" I worried.

"You tell me!" she yelled scared which had me jump from the sudden change as tears now began running down her cheeks.

She wasn't speaking English this time, so I tried to revert back to that aura vision. I couldn't do it this time either! Fuck, I can't use that power again!

"No… no why! I can't see aura anymore!"

"Master, why are you so mad that you can't see aura?" she nearly sobbed.

"Because it was the best damn feeling I have ever felt! Now I lost it! And you've been hiding your fucking secret from me for over a year! That sounds too damn serious to keep it away, Celsius! The fuck were you thinking!" I yelled at her, but then realizing it very regrettably. Shit, I didn't mean it! Celsius was starting to shake. She shut her eyes tightly forcing welling tears out hard as she turned around facing away from me. "Wait-I'm sorry Celsius I didn't-" She dashed out of the room before I could even finish. "Celsius wait, please come back!" I pleaded running after her but stopping once I reached the door.

No response from her, all I heard was sobbing and quick trotting on the cold concrete that begun fading away.

"FUCK…fuck, fuck, fuck me, Arceus damn it!" I looked at my reflection in the vanity before punching the mirror in. Damn it, I hope Celsius heard none of that; it's bad enough I yelled at her.

Damn it, what the hell is wrong with me. Everything is fucked up. The aura has me greedy and I took my lust out on my pokémon that I love so much… I had my hands on the vanity while I sobbed staring at nothing but the black top with broken pieces of glass scattered about mixed with my tear drops. I could swear I have never felt so horrible in my life. I yelled at Celsius! I just made my most trusted friend upset. I fell back on my bed and tried to cry myself back to sleep. Now I don't even want to live anymore. I lost my power that I might never get back, and I just scared Celsius away.

"What is going on with me?" I asked myself again. Once again, thinking about questions that can never be answered.

It's like my life is being torn further and further apart. Everything that has happened to Celsius and me these past months has been my fault, but the only thing that is keeping me alive right now is the urge for vengeance; other wise I would have just ended my self with a bullet long ago. Celsius probably feels the same. She knows that I'm depressed, so she also gets depressed seeing her friend like this.

"We will see each other again, Rayn Excal…Goodbye?"

I used aura that night…Ho-Oh must've meant that I might get my powers back... Wait…Ho-Oh! What the hell? Holy fuck, I feel like a divine prophet…or a delusional schizophrenic! Ho-Oh? It was just a vision right? Something my own conscience made up because Ho-Oh is a mythical, legendary creature, one the rarest ones and most unseen too. What are the odds that I am visited by her? But then again, who has had a dream with Ho-Oh in it, a female divine pokémon too?

I was startled by several loud knocks on my wall. "Celsius is that you?"

"Hell no-Do I look like a fucking mindless pokémon to you? We gotta go now!" I laid myself back down annoyed by Juggernaut's intrusion. "Now!" he yelled.

I got up unenthusiastically from his order. I don't care about what's going to happen now, just as long as it ends quickly. I slipped my armor on and left the room.

As I followed Juggernaut, I found Celsius sobbing to her self facing a dark corner. I quickly ran over to her since I felt worthless for upsetting her so badly.

"Celsius, please I'm sorry about what has been going on with me lately," I pleaded crying myself.

"Rayn…" was all she said.

"Celsius I don't wan-" I was interrupted by a huge kick from pain to my jaw area as I saw Juggernaut wielding his pistol backwards. He used the butt of his desert pidgeot to hit me across the face, barely missing the hinge on my jaw. I was on the ground with blood dripping from the huge cut on my lip created by the force of his hit.

"Rayn!" Celsius cried running to my side.

"Quit fucking around with your tools and let's go!"

I recovered from the hit feeling so hopeless I just wanted to kill every living thing including myself around me right now. I followed him outside to the car that we stole from the depot during that large battle. I hope Celsius is following me, and I hope that she's not too traumatized by my outburst. Fuck, I can't hope for the impossible…

I didn't ask where we were going. Each of us sat in silence the whole ride. Celsius was next to me in the back seat. I gently stroked her neck and scalp to see if she would lighten up. I know I've been scaring her.

From the direction we were going, I knew we were going back to the depot. The entire dock should be lined with yellow caution tape by now. Shouldn't the drugs that were kept there be gone?

"Okay Jon, my boss, the Don, is going to be at the meet, so try to look your best. Don't say a word, got it. Just look obedient and tell that thing sitting next to you to not piss anyone off."

Before my eyes lit up in surprise, I glared at Juggernaut nodding. The mafia leader is going to be there! Now is my chance. Bad thing is how am I supposed to kill him and his guards without getting myself killed? I hadn't planned on this far.

"Looks like it's our time, Rayn," she said weakly. She wasn't looking forward to this.

I nodded to her knowing if I said anything about a rebellion, Juggernaut would've turn around and killed me right here, and I can't say anything to lighten her mood. Trying to think of a plan, I anxiously waited to see the Don in person. I have a few hours to think of something good. Damn my heart rate kicked up just from the thought of meeting the man that murdered my whole family. It was a cold chilly feeling as well giving me goose bumps.

The time had come when we pulled up next to the entrance of the docks. As I had predicted, there was yellow caution tape to protect the crime scene, but there wasn't any cops or RLEB agents. We walked underneath the tape and followed Juggernaut to the meet. After we passed the many blood stains and now empty buildings, we finally saw a group of men waiting for us. Behind them was the ocean with a very large luxurious looking yacht parked at the dock. The yacht looks almost like a mini cruise ship with its' triple deck and length over half a football field! Eight of the men on the ground have loaded rifles while the other two weren't armed. Of the gunmen only one was not a man, he was a boy about a little taller than me and maybe a little older armed with an assault rifle. There was also another armed kid looking at us from the boat with several other men. Each person on their side was dressed in either gray or black suits with purple markings on numerous areas of their suits, save for one who wore white and silver instead who probably was the Don. The kid on the pier wasn't wearing a suit but instead he wore a long grey trench coat that had some purple markings around the collar. Celsius, I, and Juggernaut walked up to the group cautiously.

"Don't worry Jon, I know them."

Whatever, I don't care right now. Plan is to just stand here and wait for the right moment; maybe when the Don is turned around or something. Truth is I don't know when to strike. I mean there's an army waiting in that ship. We kept walking until the Don, some calm looking guy, and the kid with the gun began walking to us. Like a movie, we were walking in a formed horizontal line and so were they, one on one; well save for Celsius walking next to me.

"So you cleared out the dock that quick huh, before the feds came?" Juggernaut began.

"As soon as you called, I ordered my men to load as many boats as fast as they can while I stalled a few cops, nothing too formidable," the man in white, the Don, responded in a very calm voice. His age looked around mid 40's or 30's maybe. The only difference in his appearance from the rest of the men out there was that the moon light shimmered off his bald head.

"Thank you Don. I am very grateful for your services." Juggernaut bowed, soon followed later by Celsius and me.

The Don gave a look at me. "Is he the child you were talking about; your most trusted 'helper'?"

"Yes, he has helped me a lot and no matter how badly I treat him, he has always followed my orders. So has his combustion or combus something- whatever you call that thing."

"A combusken, and don't you ever call a pokémon a 'thing', you get me Juggernaut, or I'll get the houndooms to take care of you, you still want your nuts intact with your body!" the Don retorted back.

"My apologies, Don," Juggernaut bowed respectively. Heh, apparently the Don respects pokémon too. Good because I'm sick and tired of Juggernaut always treating Celsius like a slave. Too bad he's going to die though.

"So your name is Jonathan right?" the Don directly asked me. I nodded in response. "You don't have to stay quiet, Jonathan. If you are truly loyal then you don't have to worry." He held out his hand.

I hesitated for a moment but then took it in mine and we shook in a proper introduction. The other two looked at me to defend against any attack. Killing this guy is going to be harder than I thought. That kid next to him looked like he would've blown my head off in less than a second if I attacked.

Then a very tall looking person called to me. "Can you come with me Jonathan?" His deep voice was all it took to get me uncertain. He really did tower over everyone present.

"Go with him," Juggernaut ordered.

I followed this man over to the edge of the pier with the kid escorting me while Celsius stayed next to Juggernaut. That kid was much taller than me with a slightly tanner skin tone than my own. His hair was a few inches long standing straight up which matched his grey eyes that were piercing right through my own. He had a serious almost emotionless expression on his face, almost like mine. Having an M4A1 Carbine in hand he was ready for a defense. What is he and why would the Mafia use kids as bodyguards? We stood near the yacht before the tall adult began talking to me.

"So what gave you the good marksmanship and you're strength? You look as strong as a teenager."

I would say aura but…"Well where I was born, my neighborhood would have all sorts of dangers, so I worked out. I killed a few people and practiced with friends." I had to make up more stories as shitty as they're going to sound.

"Okay, then how did you learn how to fight the way you do? I don't think you learn martial arts on the streets." His tone was showing doubt.

Crap, need to think. "Um, watching action movies and then practicing them." Wow that excuse sucked!

"And…"

"And… a-a fighting pokémon taught me how to fight when I was younger."

"How did you learn how to fight if pokémon can't talk?" he questioned one eye bigger than the other.

Holy shit this guy is pissing me off. "Well with years and years of practice the pokémon showed me by signaling to me what to do," I said as calmly as I could without showing fear or anger.

"Really, you sure, because the only pokémon that can fight and speak are Lucario?"

"A Lucario, no! Those are found only in Sinnoh." I already know damn well that they can be found in Hoenn also if you look hard enough.

"I wouldn't count on it." He then pulled out a pokeball from underneath his jacket. He threw the half red half white sphere a few feet in front of us before the ball snapped open followed by a flash of light pouring out the ball. The flash of light turned into a silhouette form that stood in front of me before the colors began showing.

I began to classify the pokémon. "Lucario…male and looks like has had several years of fighting experience," I quickly listed.

"And where in Distortion World did you get your vast knowledge on pokémon?"

"The internet," I said. That's the truth, but damn I needed a lie. Wow, I'm getting screwed in the head right now and I thought I had aura to help…

"Your family that lived in a bad neighborhood had internet?" FUCK YOU!

Before I could make another lie the lucario that was spawned began to speak. "How can I be of assistance, sir?" he spoke in a clear, attention getting tone full of confidence.

"Nothing, Eff-Twenty-Two, I just wanted to prove that lucario can be found in the Hoenn Region."

"Yes sir!"

F-22? He named that Lucario off of a fighter jet? At that he called his lucario back in the pokeball in a stream of red light. "Jonathan, do you like Juggernaut?" he asked me which took me by surprised.

"Fuck no!" I quickly answered. "He treats me like crap no matter what I do, he treats Celsius like a tool, and he looks at all pokémon as tools." Oh fuck me; I was supposed to like that asshole. Oh Arceus, I'm going to get it now…

"How would you like it if I told you to kill him for me right now? Just release your anger out on him," he offered.

Whoa what the hell? Is he offering me to kill Juggernaut; it's a trick. "But he's your runner. Why would you have me kill him?" I thought about it though. I am in fact very eager to kill him.

"Because his stupidity almost cost us a ship full of cocaine, and now I want him out of our business. He's worked for us too long to fuck up on a few basic laws." He paused then glanced over at the Don's and Juggernaut's direction. "If you are part of our business, you must always follow the codes of the Mafia. I can't stress that enough."

Holy shit, he's really serious! "Where would I go afterwards? I have to stay in his ware house for a home," I asked surprised by this man's wishes.

"A warehouse?" he laughed. "Do you know that we need kids and teens like you or like him?" he said pointing to the kid next to him. "Jonathan, instead of staying in a warehouse with a man that has no sense, you have the opportunity to stay at the Feliciano Mansion with allied loyal followers ready to aid you with anything."

"Why do you need me for?" I asked a bit surprised by his words.

"Because your strength and knowledge attracts us. You have no where else to go, so you can stay at the mansion but with a cost. You must stay loyal to our family and by doing that you will be helping out our family by doing some simple assassinations so that our organization won't have any problems; a child soldier, no, a child assassin." Oh my Arceus, these guys are crazy. They use kids to do the big jobs? "You see we take teenagers or sometimes children because they have lots of potential, just like you, and we raise that potential to it's fullest which can benefit you and our family. In order to do that we take you through rigorous training for sometime before you belong in the family, and they teach you how to survive, how to fight, and how to use a gun. And once you're in you are part of the family your whole life. It's like an orphanage but with affordable room and luxury. You're a perfect match for our organization."

"How does using kids and teenagers to kill help? That doesn't even sound good because kids aren't as strong as adults."

"It's simple really, it works like pokémon. A pokémon can be trained to do anything from the start of ownership. If children are trained for years to assassinate then they can become more powerful than me, the Don, and every other man in this organization by the time they become young adults. People just don't realize the potential young people have. That's the advantage of child soldiers, but you have a very luxurious roof over your head. We also have private doctors within the property to tend to serious wounds as well as other private services so no need to worry. Plus, we have plenty of state-of-the-art technology that you will never find commercially."

This guy must be tauros shitting me; this all has to be TS to its greatest! State-of-the-art, mansion, services? Drug money can't get them all of that can it? Plus what about the federals, wouldn't they be suspicious by now. "Really, I don't know if I can protect a big mansion, let alone a powerful leader. If I do this I have a home..." Well, this guy is right. I hate Jugger-asshole and these guys do look loaded. If this is a trap I swear the Don is going down faster than anyone else though. I actually started thinking about this offer. Than this whole talk gave me another idea of how I can kill the Don.

"With me, our men, and the other young assassins back at the mansion, you can, and you have no where else to go but back to that hell hole. You don't want Celsius to live like that do you?"

Damn good point; what if I join the Mafia, gain their trust, and then kill them all behind their backs? "One last, final, important question. What about Celsius, my combusken back there? Will she get a room also? Does she get good amount of services too, food, and cleaning, or do you guys treat pokémon lower?" I saw the kid next to the adult I was dealing with form a small smile after I asked those questions which quickly became a smirk as he nodded his head.

"Jonathan, The Don has a different view on pokémon from most other people. He sees them as equals." Whoa, the Don, the bastard that killed my family likes pokémon like that; like how I view pokémon! "Does that answer your question?"

"What do I do to stay with you?"

"First, I want you to kill Juggernaut right now. Honestly if you can't kill a person in front of us then-"

"With pleasure," I said without hesitation. I didn't think about any kind of consequence. I wanted him dead, and that was all I could think of.

I walked up to Juggernaut, his back facing me. I looked at the Don who was in front of and once he spotted me I saw him smirking. I pushed Juggernaut's back with threatening force. He turned around and I instantly pulled out my machine pistol and cried out as I swung the butt directly across his jaw, shattering the bone from the blow causing him to yell in both surprise and pain, not to mention make him look deformed as his jaw hung off leveled from its side. He flew back a foot onto his back and tried to pull out his desert pidgeot, but I aimed and pulled the trigger causing a bullet to tear through his right palm of his hand. He shrilled as he grabbed his hand and started rolling on the ground. He rolled only a few times then placed his uninjured hand up to his jaw and popped the hinge back in place with a sickening snap sound. Killing this fucker is going to be fun!

"Jon, what the hell do you think you're doing!" He snapped, "S-someone shoot this bratty ass fuck!"

"It's Payback asshole!" I smirked.

I shot him in the chest avoiding any major organs coloring a portion of the ground beneath him solid red. "This is for neglecting us!" I then shot him in the shoulder and watched the strings of blood fly out his back and spread along the concrete. "This is for using us!" I shot him in his right knee after my saying probably blowing out his knee cap and watched him flinch and hop on his back. "This was for hitting Celsius." I shot him in the stomach twice watching the blood splatter in the air like a red cloud of mist. "This is for treating Celsius like a slave!" I shot him in the back of the shoulder when he started twisting around in pain. "And finally, this is for all the pokémon and people that you have ever fucked with in your life!" I shouted as I shot him in the neck. Blood began shooting out in large quantities several feet away like a fountain onto the concrete that he laid on once the bullet tore his jugular wide open. As he choked on the blood forming in his mouth, I began unloading the whole clip into his dying form pulling trigger back without letting go and shot up his entire body screaming out all of my anger in the process. He jumped and shook as each bullet entered his body. I fought the recoil of the gun as long as I could while the gun was blinding and deafening for me from the constant bright muzzle flashes and loud explosions as each bullet propelled into Juggernaut's flesh. His blood ended up all over the ground and me. After the clip ran out I squeezed the trigger a few times only giving me a clicking response, but one sound satisfied me. He was choking in his own blood falling limp to the ground with his eyes wide open. A large puddle of red life force began forming around him meeting the other smaller pools of blood next to him. His body had numerous dark red almost black holes covering his whole body that anyone would lose count of the number of wounds and just play connect the dots with his wounds instead; at least I had the will power to do that. I was gasping by the time I was done screaming at the body. Celsius who was watching the whole time walked over to the corpse. She looked at me almost emotionlessly, but to my surprise she slammed her clawed foot down on his face, splashing more blood around the skull. She forced her foot down more grunting which produced a sickening crunch sound that shattered his skull like a watermelon.

"You could've at least let him live for me to finish him off," she suggested with a "smile".

"Last I checked you weren't up for this," I calmly replied.

"Not that raticate. But why did you kill him for? Now we don't have a place to stay!"

"He told me to do it," I pointed at the tall person who I still don't even know his name.

"You can understand what she says too?" the tall guy said but now surprised this time.

"Yeah, it's sort of a long trainer pokémon relationship thing I guess," I panted from the high intensity of the adrenaline rush.

"Wow, you are something, a perfect child soldier. You'll make a fine addition to our organization." He smiled but the kid next to him kept a straight face the entire time. He sort of reminds me of myself. "As I said, once you kill Juggernaut you two are now part of the Feliciano Mafia Family, but now comes the training… and it won't be easy."

"What! Training for what?" Celsius yelled.

I ignored Celsius for now. I looked at all the guards around who most were still astonished by my actions with their mouths hung agape. "Thank you…" I paused not knowing his name.

"Oh sorry, my name is Garand," the tall guy introduced.

"I'm Jose, but call me M-4," the kid spoke for the first time; his voice was much deeper than mine.

I was too confused right now. I just did a small thing, and all of a sudden I'm part of the Mafia? "What's so special about me?"

"You have talent Jonathan," the Don answered. "Oh, another member, my nephew Livius, is on the yacht, and he can explain that talent," The Don added gesturing behind him.

That other kid, Livius, began walking down the stairs of the yacht and then down the bridge that linked the boat to the pier.

"So… why do you need me so badly, Livius?" I asked Livius still confused.

"Because Garand and I saw what you did to the Bartolomeo dealers a few nights ago, and I know what came over you," Livius explained.

Being closer for me to observe, he was a teenager probably fifteen I guess. His long blonde curly hair would block his eyes, which were very dark for blue eyes, and they were fixed oddly to my body, which I found awkward, but as he was surveying me his eyes glowed! Unlike Jose or me, he wasn't buff, even though he's older than me but he seems to know how to use aura too!

"If I'm right I was experiencing the power of aura- wait, if you two were watching me then why in the hell didn't you lend a helping hand?" I scolded. Celsius and I could've been killed. We needed all the help we could get.

"Because we had to see if you would be good enough working for our organization, and we had to find a way to trust you. How did the Bartolomeo Hitmen find you? We planted a bug in the truck and placed a Tangela in there too. Besides, we wondered if you could actually handle that kind of fight. I see daylight from looking at you. Anyways, how did you know about aura?" Livius answered.

"I've studied it before," I spoke as calmly as I could with a very pissed expression.

"Yes and approximately seven people that are walking this Earth know how to use it, so how is it possible that out of six billion people, you have that power?" Both that question and his reason annoyed the hell out of me. I just wanted to knock a tooth out of him.

"How do you know that there are only seven people that-"

"A document I saw on the Regional Geographic Channel and I know how to use the aura powers myself. Anymore questions?" The smart ass tone he was using was starting to piss me off.

"Look clearly you have it, so why do we have it? Why are we selected to have aura?"

"Listen, just explain when we get to the mansion, Livius, we need to get out of here before someone suspects our meet," Garand concluded walking to the large yacht followed by everyone else.

The yacht amazed me as I walked in front of the bridge that took me up to the middle deck. The entire exterior was white except for the sloped triangular purple exhaust pipes near the aft of the ship, and many windows and panes lined up the walls. I walked up with Celsius next to me. I took in all of the images of the bright white paint and perfect smooth wood floor. Maybe joining the Mafia won't be so bad after all. I followed Garand with Jose and a few other guards behind me as I was lead up to the upper deck. Up on top was a large pool which was lit up by the lights underneath the water, and in the water was something signed on the bottom surface of the pool: Eons. Must be the name of the boat.

"Give us a moment. M-4 will escort you to your suite shortly," Garand told me.

Damn, a suite? I was left alone with Celsius on the upper deck while everyone else left to go with their own business. We sat down on the stairs that led down to the second deck. Staring at the ocean horizon to our left, I thought this was the perfect time to apologize, but first I need to know something else.

"So no one knows why I have aura, why a random kid was born with aura huh?" Celsius's head was down as soon as I said that. "It actually sounds pretty exciting," I cheered.

"How is that exciting," she grumped.

"Come on, it sort of makes me feel special, and we'll have an easier chance of completing our goal if I can get good control," I backed up with a smile.

"Are you sure Rayn? I mean it sounds pretty stupid if you ask me. I can't believe it."

"Why is it stupid?"

"Because of all people they chose you had to be the one," she exclaimed.

"The Chosen One…I know I might sound crazy as hell but I swear that night that I passed out after that gun fight on top of you…" I looked at Celsius to check if she was still listening and saw a distinct reddening area around both of her cheeks, "I, uh…I don't know how to say it but I think I had an actual vision of Ho-Oh."

"…Of, Ho-Oh…the Ho-Oh?"

"I don't know, but she spoke to me and-"

"She!" By now she was giving me a very confused maybe even worried look.

"Yeah, that's what I said, but her voice was a she and she said that we will see each other again. Do you think that can mean something that has to do with these powers? You know, The Chosen One. I was chosen by her I guess."

"I…Wow that's pretty scary. I honestly don't have any clues on that. Lucario only said you have aura and that's it. I don't know why you were born with it," she spoke grounding her self back down from my "insane" discovery to her.

"Well like I said it's not bad-"

"I just don't want you to get hurt; as a matter of fact I was praying that it wasn't true. That's why I was scared when you started showing that power because Lucario was probably right, but I don't know what's supposed to happen to you." It sounded like she was pleading now. She really doesn't like how I have these powers, how I was chosen, and how I use it.

"I actually want to keep this power between our selves and these people since the secret's out, but I'm actually happy I was chosen. I feel special, like an important person. It felt good having that power, and I want it back. Maybe I'll meet some mythical legendary pokémon, if they do exist." I tried holding my hand out to emit some kind of energy but nothing happened. "Don't worry about what the stupid purpose is for having aura. Maybe it can be just a huge turn of luck for us."

Celsius began smiling again which made me smile once again. "Maybe it does sound exciting, as long as you learn to control it because you seem a bit greedy right now. That's not good."

"Yeah true," I paused then sighed now ready to give an apology, "That brings me to what I really wanted to say. Sorry for yelling at you earlier. That was so wrong of me to do. Damn it, I don't know what came over me last night and this morning, but it was like I forgot about everything we had. And Arceus damn it I won't let myself get away with that. You are something amazing to me Celsius, and seeing me snap on you like that had me shattered! Sorry for killing people in the most disturbing ways right in front of you like that. I'm sorry about everything that has happened the past four months. It's just I can't help it and I don't think before I make decisions. Like now we're part of the Mafia because of me. And damn it, I will not let anything happen to you. I love you Celsius, I really do!"

Hoping that my message was clear, I looked directly at Celsius getting her eye contact. They were wider than normal, so that can be a hopeful sign. She looked away though looking down the stairway towards the aft of the ship deep in thought. Would she forgive me for screaming at her? "I was so scared of what was becoming of you. You never yelled at me with true anger before," She looked up and at me and I saw an apparent blush on her face, that's odd, "But I understand why you did that which was why I was more worried about your well being through out the day than how you felt about me." I saw her hands move forward quickly slipping under my own arms gripping my shoulders and pulling me in for a tight hug. "You're the only person that supports my will to live right now. Don't worry about how you yelled at me, I forgave you long ago and forgot about it. I knew you didn't mean it," she spoke over my shoulder using a softer tone.

I took in her great amount of comforting body heat, her trademark feature for being a fire type. My arms were around her back tightly as I felt her hands caress my shoulders which calmed me down. "Yeah, but I scared you badly. Everything I have done has scared you badly," I responded still caught in a net of negative thoughts.

She had let go of the hug after I said that. "You, scaring me? You can't scare me; you're just my little master," she chuckled. With that she grabbed me and placed me in a loose but secured headlock. That took me by surprise as she balled her claws up and grinded her knuckles across my head in a playful manner still using lots of pressure. I laughed playfully feeling the pain from the rough housing of her noogie. Wow, she rarely plays around like this anymore!

"Ow, I hope you called me Rayn and not master just now," I laughed, countering her by spinning our bodies around which got her on the hard wood boards then began running my fingers across her abdomen to try and find her new tickle spots; something I never had a chance to do until now.

I saw her burst in a storm of laughter as I tried tickling her stomach, neck, areas of her arms, waist, and thighs which all proved effective to an extent. Maybe Celsius still does have her good side. After thinking there was enough of that I stopped my actions and sat back up. Celsius seemed very disappointed though but trying to keep myself in check I pulled her up by the hand instead of playing more games.

"Wow, such a beautiful night," Celsius began as she stared to her left beyond the upper deck.

"Yeah I know, the bright full moon illuminating the calm waters and the deck, the bright stars giving some of the patterns in the midnight blue sky, and the water pokémon swimming out in the distance…" I pointed to a few Wailord out in the ocean. "This is a sign that things will be better from here on out."

As I described, the moon was out in the clear over the docks though but it still colored everything in light barely visible shades of blue including the calm waters swelling around the yacht. Heh, it reminds me of aura. I took in the smell of salt water mending this calming environment even though I knew I was within enemy territory. I looked back towards the staircase and even though I was facing the docks I could still get a clean sense of the ocean. Hearing the waters swell around us and even tasting the salty air, at least to me that was what I felt.

"Wow…just like what you used to be, gentle. I still miss your naïve nature, but from the negative things that have been happening, you have matured way too fast, it's not natural. The aura is forcing that part out of you…" She sighed before continuing "I miss that part of you."

I'm with the people that ended those days. "I miss that calm, bold, and happy side of you. When you first evolved, even before you evolved, you acted like a tomboy, but now you are always sad about me."

"That's because you were depressed. I hope that's over now."

"I just wish I had aura back, so I can hear your real gentle voice that you had. That was amazing. I never knew you could sound so…so…pretty," I laughed. We're laughing and smiling more now.

I noticed her cheeks changing in color to a darker shade of red than before. She kept staring at me, so I stared back but kept questioning myself. Is there something on my face or something like that? I heard barely audible thumping sounds, so I blocked out every other sound to find her heart rate increased greatly for some reason. She then began to sweat and blink uncontrollably.

"Are you okay Celsius? Or is there something wrong with me?"

"Huh- oh yeah fine!" She quickly turned away from me. That was weird, what's with Celsius? I don't think I have ever seen her act like this before.

While I was thinking about her attitude, the yacht's loud horns went off as we began moving through the water. Holding her as well as hugging her close to me has become very rare now because I hadn't held her since she evolved, due to her size and her… newly developed body features. Even when we slept we would sleep on the opposite edges of the bed. That night after I had that vision of Ho-Oh I was in her arms. Just now she pulled me in for an embrace. I know well enough that affection like that between human and pokémon, trainer and partner are rare as hell and probably unwanted. Almost makes me feel like Celsius has a crush on me or something, but it could just be, like I said, a rare, strong relationship between human and pokémon. Thinking she likes it when we hug, I pulled her close to me for another embrace. She didn't push away so we stayed for a few good minutes, and like before I took in the oddly good feelings of her claws rubbing my back as I did the same to her feeling her feathers dig between my fingers.

"Hey, new guy!" I heard a masculine voice call out.

Assuming he was talking to me I answered, "Yeah, what is it." I then let go of Celsius.

I let the man walk up the stairs finding it wasn't an adult but Jose instead, one of the child assassins. This time the M4A1 he originally had in his hand was hanging by a shoulder strap across his back with the barrel pointing down behind his left thigh, while another rifle, a Franchi SPAS 12 semi automatic shotgun, was hung perpendicular to the gun with the barrel behind the right side of his hip. "The hell were you two doing?" He glared at me almost suspiciously which got me a little uncomfortable. "Eh whatever, I'll show you guys to your rooms now." His tone wasn't as formal as it was when we were on the pier.

We followed Jose down the steps and into the interior. He was taller than me by around over a few inches at I think at around five foot two for him I'm guessing. He was broad as hell two, scary for a kid. He opened one of the doors leading inside the yacht that was located on the side of the second deck. The interior was even more luxurious than the exterior as different shades of brown covered all the walls with random carved in streams of white decorating them. The walls were aligned along the way in slight wavy patterns with a glossy sheen to them and a wood pattern showed the reflections of Celsius, Jose, and I as we ventured through the halls. We arrived to a bigger corridor where a bar was on one side, but only the bartender was there. It was like a large living room with the biggest flat screen TV I had ever seen mounted to the wall, and a very long beige couch on the opposite side.

"Daaaamn…"

"Hah, that's only a small rest stop for some of our men here. The main rooms will blow your mind!" he spoke with some enthusiasm.

That was just only a fraction of the living room too. We walked through the large room until we hit mores hallways. Jose led me to my room halfway down the hall filled with other rooms where he gave me a key.

I opened the door to find it looking like a master bed room for a very large house. The walls were glazed brown, just like the outside, and the floor was made of caramel-like colored marble. The bed was king size with red and brown decorations and comforters. Another large flat screen was installed onto the wall, and surround sound speakers were installed through the ceiling which is the perfect touch to a five star hotel room, or suite I should call it. The bathroom was in the back which the walls and floor was made entirely of white marble. Darker counter tops contrasted the flooring. The large bath tub with water jets was also countered with the marble walls. There was a window next to the tub, giving a view of the ocean. Arceus damn, Garand was right about the luxury. How can the Don invest in all of this?

"Damn! Do all of the kids and teens like us live like this?" Celsius was also scanning around the room in complete shock. I know my parents were very, very fortunate, but this is way over doing it all!

"You bet your ass they do. This is nothing though. Shit, the mansion will kill. It will blow your fucking mind away man, I swear it," he smiled.

I looked back at Jose after looking around who was looking at me as well. "You're eyes, one is brown and one is blue through that hairdo of yours?"

"Oh yeah, uh I guess it's the aura Livius was talking about," I chuckled.

"So are you pretty emotional or something?"

"Emotional, like how?" I asked confused

"Emo, meaning you cut yourself and cry every minute of your life," he spoke with a more serious tone now.

"What, no! Why 'd you ask that in the first place?" I asked getting a little annoyed by his remark.

"Because you're wearing tight jeans, a black shirt, until you got on you seemed pissed off like every second, and what gives it away most is your long faggot hair that's covering your eye."

The fuck, I've had these clothes for well over a year now and it's the only thing I can wear now! "Are you making fun of the way I look?"

"Just your clothes and hair, hell yeah." He began almost sizing me up with his arms spread out. "You look emo as fuck right now, like you have issues or something," he laughed as he enjoyed bullying me, but I won't let him get away with that kind of shit.

Celsius began growling viciously since she loved my hair style. "No one makes fun of Rayn and gets away with it," she yelled with intimidation.

"What'd she say?"

"At least you know she's a she already. She says she'll beat the shit out of you if you don't shut your mouth!" I was mad myself. Nice way to treat a guest, asshole. "You have no fucking idea what I've been through dumbass!" I was pretty hurt by his comments but I held back my tears to pissed to cry anyway and not in the mood to look like shit in front of a bunch of assassins.

"I have no fucking idea what you've been through?" he laughed almost hysterically even gripping his stomach. He placed his hand on the wall to regain his composure once his laughter slowed. "How do you think every assassin became an assassin in this organization?" he asked regaining his self-control with an angry glare projecting from his eyes. "And if you even try to kick my ass, I'll call the guards and they'll chuck your asses into the ocean, or I could do that myself easily."

"You talk some serious shit."

"You started by saying you were going to kick my ass."

"You made fun of me!"

We glared at each other before he began smiling and then laughing again. He looked away gripping his stomach harder than before. What's wrong with this kid? Is it some kind of medical condition?

"Aww shit my bad. I couldn't keep a straight face, fuck man!"

Huh, what the hell is he talking about? Celsius and I looked at each other and she was confused as well.

"Don't mind him. He likes to piss off noobies, even piss off everybody for no reason," a voice from the doorway interrupted.

"Yeah dude c'mon, you need to calm down. I was just fuckin' around," Jose added.

"Didn't sound like it," I replied.

"Don't worry. Let's just say it's our way of getting to know noobs. I'm Mitch, but call me M-60."

"Yeah bitch here- I mean Mitch here pretty much got me to talk a lot of shit long ago so blame him for the way I act," Jose laughed almost for no reason this time as I saw it.

"You be pissin' people off way too much dumb shit," Mitch retorted back.

Mitch's two guns were also hung from his back but the fashion they were hung in created an "X" from the rifles crossing each other, both of which are giant, bulky looking guns; an M60 machine gun, E4 variant I believe, and the other was an M32 MGL mk.1 grenade launcher! Holy crap, how can he carry both of those without falling on his ass? I mean one weapon is a six round revolving drum grenade launcher, and the other is a giant gun to put it brief! His hair was shaved like mines used to be except his was blonde while his eyes were light blue. He was much taller than me and a little taller than Jose standing at probably around five foot seven, and like Jose, he was wearing a trench coat but black with a purple collar.

"I'm Jonathan, and why do you guys have the nick names of guns for?"

"Because each kid that has our' beastly' characteristics which is strength, loyalty, knowing how to use a gun, and knowing how to fight like me-" Mitch responded with a jokey tone similar to Jose's.

"Uh, Tauros shit, you're none of that!" Jose's tone was also comical. Palkia, when Jose jokes around, he is much less intimidating than being next to Garand. Then it hit me; they're not serious around their commander, but how can they act so stupid and still be skilled assassins?

"Uh fuck you; I'm so beasty when it comes to fighting." He started acting less jokingly before continuing. "Anyways, us 'kids' are put in an organization made by this Mafia family. It's simply called 'Mafia 14'. It's a plan where around 20 kids like you or us are found or kidnapped and then go through boot camp like training to become assassins every freaking year. One is chosen, and it keeps going on and on till' we get fourteen assassins; just fourteen. Right now there are nine successful beasty assassins in the group. Each of us is way more powerful than the pussy adults are, and you're the newest noob."

"So every year twenty people are taken in to train, but one is chosen to add to the fourteen assassins? What about the other nineteen?" I was too confused right now.

"Garand, the guy in charge of this whole Mafia 14 crap, will explain everything once we reach Slateport City."

"Yeah, Mafia 14 members get the greatest most surgical weapons and gear that the military can't even get their hands on for their own weak ass soldiers. Check this shit," Jose added.

He pulled his trench coat apart to reveal that his armor underneath was the exact same type as mine was but more up to date as there were ammunition pockets on the cloth! These assholes are using the armor my father created, but I thought only spec op soldiers use those. It had everything from the protection sleeves to the soft regenerate liquid and more. He flashed out his right forearm to reveal a screen with a keyboard below it that was strapped over his sleeve. The screen showed several dots but I don't what they are or what it meant.

"Whoa!" I pretended to look amazed. How in the fuck did the Don order those?

Jose's pupils all of a sudden began to shrink in size very quickly then dilate the same speed. Was he high or something? "Okay, Jewel wants me to help her with the gun stocks. I'm going to go check on her," he told Mitch.

"Alright, M-4's partner needs something, so we'll leave you two to get acquainted to your new safe house," Mitch concluded. How the fuck did Jose just... Damn, these assassins are weird! His partner has him chipped or something with more "state-of-the-art technology?

They both gave me some kind of friendly handshake to me on their way out. We gave each other a five and then pound with your fist to each others fist. That was new, their whole language is new. At least the shake was simple to learn. Once they left I closed the door and locked it.

"By the way Celsius, the plan is to work for the Mafia, gain their trust, and then kill them okay," I confirmed to Celsius.

"I know that already. I figured that out when Garand started talking about your aura."

"Thank goodness you knew," I smiled.

I played with the light switches around the room trying to shut the lights off. I was pretty beat tired even though I was anticipated about my new life, our new life. I turned off the lights while Celsius switched a lamp on that was placed on one of the night stands.

I climbed in the king size bed while Celsius was already under the covers. She switched the lamp off and I got closer to the middle.

Finally getting comfortable I began to muse about things like I normally do. This is it. This is finally it. Juggernaut is dead, but now I must work for these guys and stay alive for who knows how long until I can achieve their trust. I just hope it won't be as bad as staying with Juggernaut.

I felt something creep up behind me catching me by surprise but I knew it was Celsius, but she began doing something very different. She wrapped her arms around my torso and cuddled up with me. Whoa, this is totally different…Shit I can't do this with her at least not with her developing form. I don't want to feel like I'm invading her space! Wait, but she initiated it? Still, kicking that thought out, I scooted away from her slightly nudging her away.

"Sorry…I'm a little warm right now," I spoke as an excuse to get away.

"O-Oh…sorry I didn't mean to…" she rolled over to her side of the bed while I got back to deep thoughts.

Damn, something is strangely up with her. She's acting way more affectionate than normal; way more affectionate than a pokémon should be to a human friend. Whoa wait, what the hell am I saying. Humans and pokémon are the same, you know that Rayn! Just like friends would laugh and hug, pokémon should do that with their close friend even if it is their trainer or owner! But is that even normal or taboo? Is it a frowned upon action in this world; just to hug and cuddle? Damn it, is…is it actually even possible for people and pokémon to…love? The fuck am I asking that for? Why would I think of something sick! I shuffled my body in the bed from that nasty thought. Well…is it really even nasty? What if it was possible for that kind of thing to happen? Like a mom and dad made of a person and a pokémon?

As I thought about the answer to that unanswerable question I felt and heard the sheets and covers moving around my side. Then I was slightly blinded by a light coming on and found Celsius had got up from bed. I looked at her and found her sweating almost profusely with her whole face redder than normal.

"Whoa, Celsius what's wrong," I worried crawling over to her but unintentionally found with my hand that an area where she was lying on was really wet and probably from her sweat. She didn't respond and instead quickly trotted over to the bathroom, flipped the switch on over there, hopped up on the counter where the sinks were, and then turned on the facet to wash her face with it. She splashed her face in the water and I watched worried about her condition. "Celsius?"

She turned the facet off and stood there for a second. "Argh, damn it!" she cursed quietly probably to herself. "Sorry, Master, I uhh…I think I just need to use the restroom," she spoke.

"Restroom?"

"Yes, the restroom," she told me more demandingly before switching off the bathroom lights and quickly made her way to the separate room where the toilet was.

Shit, I wonder what's wrong with her. Once I heard the fan in the room run I concluded it was just stomach ache, but a bad one from the looks of it. I reached over and switched off the lamp so I could try to drift off to sleep. Hmm, I could've sworn her breasts looked bigger than normal; I know I'm not supposed to look there but I couldn't ignore the fact that they changed pretty quick in only a few minutes. Now, that either means that she just grew in like five minutes that much, or according to my studies I used to do she desires to mate. Okay, we didn't come across any male pokémon on this ship and she's not in her final form so she can't be in heat, but she can't grow that fast because she didn't seem any taller. So what triggered that sudden growth?

I rolled back over to my side moving around trying to get comfortable. Damn it, I can't stop thinking about the sudden decision I made! Fuck, I may have killed Juggernaut but now I'm part of the Mafia. I have to kill more people now and worst of all resist temptation to kill everything wearing a black or grey suit while torturing the one wearing white. Fuck I need some sleep. I shuffled around some more trying to knock out those thoughts. I grazed my right hand over my nose trying to change positions and after I did that I caught a strange scent. I put my palm back to my nose and sniffed again.

"What the?"

I sniffed again and again. Odd, it's hard to describe but it's not like it's enjoyable but it's not bad either to smell this. It's like my curiosity keeps perking me to smell my palm again. A weird scent that kept attracting me. Then I realized this is the same exact hand that I placed over Celsius's sweat. Okay, sweat doesn't smell like this. I made my way back to that spot feeling with my fingers to see if it's still there. It's still as wet as it was when Celsius left. I sniffed my fingers that trailed over that spot and confirmed that's where it's coming from noting the stronger signature smell. I crawled closer to that spot now with my head over that area. I nervously placed my nose over the wet spot and lightly sniffed it. That light sniff felt like a long whiff as strong amounts of that attracting smell entered my senses. Arceus, this is crazy I can't stop smelling this smell! I can't describe it either other than being like an attractive "musky" smell? This came from Celsius, and it smells…attractive! What the hell did she do? Okay, okay, stop sniffing man.

I forced myself to roll over to my spot of the bed noting that my sweat production picked up while I was over her area. Damn, what the fuck? I even felt a little light headed as I fell back. Damn, Celsius…you smell good. I closed my eyes from being dizzy now feeling really fatigued, but still I unconsciously moved my hand back up to my nose to sniff that scent every now and then; damn it, I love her scent. But is that even normal or taboo? Is it really even nasty…?

To Be Continued…

Desert Pidgeot= Desert Eagle

Regional Geographic Channel= National Geographic Channel


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Typhlosive Pair

This ship was still somewhere in the middle of the sea gliding through the calm waters. In the bathroom I switched on the shower faucet to warm up the water. The shower, being next to the giant tub, was magnificent in size with slots for soaps and bottles that were already provided and even a ledge for people to sit on.

After the hot water created enough steam to fog up the mirrors, I was done showering; Celsius was sitting up on the bed looking groggy. I opened the glass door letting steam engulf the space around the bathroom.

"I finally get to wash in a large clean shower," I began relieved, "How was your sleep?"

I was wrapping myself with a towel when I noticed that all of the scars I got from bullet wounds these past few months were gone! That's astonishing! How the hell did they just vanish- was it…the aura? After I examined the areas where the scars were supposed to be I looked at Celsius who was gazing at me.

"Oh- oh, yeah I finally slept well," she snapped.

I kept scanning myself when I heard Celsius talking to herself too softly for me to hear. "I can't wait until you grow older, Master."

"What was that?"

"Oh uh, I said I cannot wait until… we throw them over. Yeah, I can't wait until we throw these Mafia bastards over board.

"I know me neither, but I have to gain their trust before we do anything. So we can't just attack while we're on a yacht."

The clothes that I have worn for the past year and a half were back on.

**(POV)**

"I still don't believe that he used aura before." M-4 told Livius in this meeting at the Don's office.

"Yes when Garand and I watched that very shoot out he survived, I saw a very large amount of aura within his body, he couldn't have gunned down all those men perfectly without it. If it wasn't for that power he would've died living with Juggernaut, trust me," Livius answered calmly.

"Are you absolutely sure he has aura? I thought that kind of thing is rare?"

"Quit questioning my nephew, M-4! Just because you're turning twelve soon doesn't mean your balls haven't dropped enough to question him like you're doing this very moment!" yelled The Don keeping his hands clasped together below his face giving him a serious demeanor, "He wouldn't be tauros shitting us like that when it comes to looking through a kid's past. My nephew is one of the few people in the world that possesses aura so he is never wrong." True, Livius is right about everything all the time.

"Speaking of 'looking through a kid's past', I couldn't penetrate Jonathan's thoughts or memories. It seems that a mental aura block is preventing me from looking, but he is not controlling it. As a matter of fact from the readings I'm getting in his aura, he does not know how to control it at all. That mental block is involuntary," I spoke using enough power for everyone in this room to hear.

"I'm getting even more excited about Jonathan the more you find out about him. His powers would be beyond perfect for our organization." Garand didn't even care about the fact that Jonathan's mind can't be read. Normally if recruits' memories are a threat to the Mafia, the Don orders M-60 to execute that person.

"But sir, since Livius can't scan his mind it might not be safe to have Jonathan in our team. He could possibly be planning something," My master pleaded. It seems that my master is actually jealous, heh. He can care less if Jonathan will jeopardize this organization.

"But he might be one of the best assassins we will ever have on the roster, M-4," Garand argued, "He can learn the powers of aura. The Don will have to decide."

The Don had his chair turned away from everyone present. He gazed out the view he had with his panoramic window wrapping around this whole office that sat on top deck with the pool behind us giving him a prefect front row view of the ocean as he thought. "Of course, besides the best way for us to really see his true strength is for him to survive our main test." The Don spun his chair around, "M-4, go find Jonathan and explain to him what he must do in order to become an assassin of Mafia 14 now that he's with us," The Don ordered.

My master replied with loyalty and we left The Don's Quarters.

We walked around the pool and down the stairs leading to the second deck. "That's some crazy ass tauros shit! I'm getting sick and tired of this aura crap! Listen Jewel, When we find Jonathan I want you to scan his memories again. He can't try anything against me, got it?" Master demanded.

"I understand Master."

**(POV)**

Celsius and I were walking down the hallway where our suite was searching for a place to get food when we stumbled across Jose. He looked like he was in a hurry.

"Oh shit, found your ass, Jonathan; I've been all over this bitch looking for you."

"What do you m-" I was shocked to see that he has one of the hardest-to-find pokémon in Hoenn standing next to him! The pink furred pokémon that was on all fours with a ruby jewel imbedded in her forehead began wagging her dual pronged tails. "Espeon, a female, where did you ever find her!" Her height came up slightly higher than Jose's own waist, average size, but damn I never knew espeon would be so big in person.

"Oh yeah, her name is Jewel, my most trusted beast. I found her as an eevee in the wild by accident. You know what; where in the hell did you ever find a torchik? They're hard as hell to find, and you can't get one until you're ten."

"Yeah my dad knew a torchik breeder that worked for the Hoenn league, so he gave me Celsius," I smiled knowing he has a good knowledge on pokémon. "Do all of you assassins have pokémon?"

"Some, too many pussy assassins can't handle pokémon, but Jewel has stuck by me." Jose's pupils began dilating just like last night. "Are you fucking serious, you couldn't find a thing?" he asked Jewel. It looked like Jewel was speaking to him psychically.

"Find what Jose?" I asked curious to what he was talking about.

"Nothing and call me M-4 not Jose. Call every assassin by their gun name. Anyways The Don wanted me to explain to you what is going to happen to you once we get to the mansion, so here's the microwave version. When we get to the mansion, you have at least two days to get situated because for you to join Mafia 14-"

"Wait; fully explain to me why in the hell does the Don like to use kids as assassins instead of adults? That seems stupid."

"Actually it aint kids, teenagers-"

"What about you? You're not a teenager," I questioned leaning against a wall followed by him at the opposite wall.

"It's a long story, but to answer the first question, his idea ain't stupid because he finds teenagers without a life to live for and teaches them all sorts of kick ass shit. Anyways, you gotta fight other teenagers that are just like you, and we need twenty people to do that, and you're the twentieth find. The other nineteen have proven that they can kick some ass just like you. So sorry, but you have like two days to get comfortable before the fights. There are five rounds. Here's the fucked up part, if you lose the first two rounds you can't join Mafia 14, and-"

I was too deep in the thought about fighting teenagers that I didn't hear the last few words he said. "How old are these guys, and how do you expect me to fight older kids that are as good as I am?" Fighting vicious teenagers!

"Don't worry about it because you handled a bunch of adults at the docks a few nights ago, right, and if you want to stay in the 'kick ass mansion', you gotta fight and kick ass. Anyways all the fights will be watched by The Don, Garand, Livius, and the Mafia 14 Assassins including myself. The fights can become too much for you so stay on your feet because we will start throwing weapons in to the arena if we feel like it. I don't want to see you bitch and cry.

"Dialga Palkia, this sounds retarded! I have to fight other kids that are just like me but older? What about pokémon?"

"Naw, all pokémon owned by these guys will stay with the audience, your combusken will be up there watching as well. Okay so if you do win the fights I will explain everything else because I can tell you're still like 'what the fuck'; and I mean everything."

I looked down at Celsius who also had that "what the fuck" face, but I'm up for this, I really don't have a choice. "As long as we don't have to kill each other I don't have a problem." I'm not looking forward to fighting older kids, but I have fought a couple adults and I injured most of them. Besides, I don't enjoy beating the crap out of innocent people. It looks as if these guys were forced into this fight.

"Well I did say the fights can become beasty."

"So you and M-60 are the best of the Mafia 14 right now, but you guys aren't even over thirteen yet and you say you find teenagers to join Mafia 14?"

"That's what the Don say's, and like I said, the way M-60 and I came here is a long story. There's like only nine Mafia 14 members right now, so there are 20 kids ready to fight and only one of them will join us as number ten. Besides, M-60 is almost thirteen"

As M-4 finished up I saw Livius walking down the hallway we were all in towards us. "Hey Livius, you still didn't answer my question. So why are we chosen to have this power of aura?" I called out facing him.

He walked over to me. "Ah, you want to know why we were selected. I was selected because it's in my blood. Believe it or not but my great, great, great, great grandfather was an aura guardian who was stationed somewhere in Alto Mare," he explained, "My family hasn't seen any other male with aura until I came in. As for you, maybe it's the same reason, who knows. We're just a rare breed of humans to put it simply." Once he finished he continued walking down the hallway getting to his destination.

"There he goes with that aura crap again,"M-4 spoke once he rounded the corner.

An intercom on the yacht speakers sounded and the captain of the ship announced that we have docked at Slateport Harbor. M-4 led Celsius and I to the Don, Livius, M-60, and Garand. After the greetings they gave me, all of us exited the yacht and there was a long black limo awaiting us down on the concrete pier. Everyone else got in while Celsius and I got in last, I didn't want to be rude hence it would cause me bad attention. Inside was darkened by the limo tint windows but the floor was lit by streams of neon lights running down the walkway. The lights would fade to a different color as time went by.

"So how do you like all of this so far Jonathan?" The Don asked, "You still seem mad about something. How are you feeling?" The limo began accelerating out of the docks.

"I'm fine. I always look like this." Get used to it and blame it on Juggernaut for getting me depressed. "I don't even know if I deserve this luxury," I blankly said. I really don't care about any of the luxurious treatment right now.

"Cheer up Jonathan. What's bothering you?" the Don worried.

"Nothing, I'm fine." The only thing I'm happy about is finally getting to the Mafia.

I kept gazing out the window the entire ride. We were heading north by north west for all I know. We turned off the main roads into a small street leading into a forest. The forest only grew thicker as we drove down this road for fifteen minutes and once in a while "Private Property" signs would pop up. We slowed in front of a gate guarded by four guards all wearing black with strapped rifles. They let us go, knowing it was their own leader that wanted in. It was just one road that connected the gate to the Mansion which was five more minutes to reach after entering the gate, and it was located deep in the forest of Northwestern Slateport forty-five minutes away from the main city.

"We're finally here Jon. Try to get used to the new luxury if it's too much for you," M-60 commented.

Celsius and I got out of the limo to find an extremely large triple floored mansion in front of us. Looking around, the whole complex was blocked out by a brick wall lining up the land and road that led to the exit. I looked back at the mansion to find lots of patios and large decorated windows in the front which stretched around three-hundred feet going left to right. So the front side of the house was probably four-hundred to six-hundred feet long. The walls were made of brickstone painted light red, grey cobble stone, and the regular bricks. The entrance had cobble stoned stairs that led up to the double doors. Above the steps was a domed glass roof being supported by carved pillars. Everyone got inside except M-60 who was right behind waiting for us to walk inside.

"Come on, damn, you're holding up the line!" He yelled.

Celsius stepped in followed by me. In the middle of the space in front of us was a fountain that stretched all the way up to the second floor with points and barbs lining the fountain spraying water to the pool and a gigantic golden purple tinted chandelier hung overhead. Two sets of stairs curved out giving an entrance to the second level that cut hallway through the stairway giving entrance to the third level. Behind me, way above was the third level hallway that protruded out of the wall on looking the first. There were more rooms and hallways in all directions. Did I forget to mention that the flooring was white shimmering marble like ice and the walls had well decorated pillars supporting the roof above me with several large, priceless paintings?

"Ok, follow me. I'll show you two to your new room," a feminine voice offered.

I snapped out of my trance and looked around the room to find only Celsius, M-60, and I standing up. "Did you say that M-60?"

"Since when in the fuck did I sound like a girl. Never had a psychic talk to you before?"

As a matter of fact I have, so that's why it sounds like a normal, real voice. I looked around some more to find Jewel sitting directly in front of me. Her tails were waving as she smiled at me.

"I said that," she began without moving her mouth at all but still sounding real, "Now if you would follow me to your room please."

Without warning Celsius growled, "Back off bitch!"

"Celsius what the hell! Show some respect, she's harmless," I chided.

Celsius had slightly calmed down but still gave her a dirty look. "Damn it, sorry, I've just been feeling a little off for the past few hours," she apologized to Jewel and I but still with a mad look. Damn, did the scenery do that to her?

"Okay continuing to your rooms..." The pink pokémon led us to the third level and walked us down a long hallway going to the back of the mansion until we stopped at the ninth door.

I opened it to see that it looked a lot like the room in the yacht. If a guest room looks like this then what do the other bedrooms look like?

"Like it? I can sense it," Jewel spoke.

"Arceus damn, just like the yacht but bigger!"

I turned around about to see what Celsius thought of this but instead I saw Jewel's pink ears perk up to full alertness. She pointed her nose in the air and I saw it twitch. "What is that odd scent?" She trailed her nose around us then finally lowered her head to Celsius legs. What the? She then stuck her nose deeper within the feathers right between her legs in her crotch area!

"What the fuck, Jewel?" Celsius snapped pushing Jewel away with her claws.

"That's not a heat scent…"

"She can't be in heat," I spoke a little uneasy from Jewel's nosiness, literally.

"Ah I see, you've been touching yourself," Jewel spoke almost sounding blunt.

"What the- That's pretty private don't you think!" Celsius yelled covering her crotch while blushing really hard.

"Oh relax; at least you don't have to worry about any males around here. Never been in the wild huh?"

"N…not really?"

"Pokémon sniff each other's 'areas' all the time in the wild if they've done what you've done recently," she smiled.

"Touching your self…?" I asked Celsius who only looked at me.

"Oh and I suggest giving Celsius a bath before continuing on with my tour. Can't have her smelling pungent neither, you're surrounded by top class now," Jewel casually said as she left the room while keeping an eye on Celsius the whole time who stared daggers back.

After she left I closed the door behind me. "Uh, so what did she mean by you were touching yourself? What does that mean?"

Once she heard me asked that she breathed out a huge sigh of relief. "Arceus, I'm so glad you don't know what that means. I don't know either so let's just forget about it," she blushed.

I gave her an odd look. "Ookay…"

"Do I really need to take a bath?"

"Normally I would give you a bath every two years, but it's about to be two years so it doesn't even matter."

"Awe damn it," She sighed.

"Wait a sec." I looked over Celsius before I remembered that evolved female pokémon must use a paw scrub in order for them to handle their chest by them selves; some kind of rule every trainer uses not only a sign of respect but society wants it that way. Great I need to find one. "Stay here I'll be right back." I left our room and luckily found M-4 down the hallway with Jewel. "Hey do you have a paw scrub I can borrow? You know those scrubs with a handle so pokémon can slip it over there paw and scrub them selves."

"No I do not."

"What, but you should at least have one? Your Espeon is a final form and she already grew breasts, just like most other ground female pokémon do." Jewel's cheeks were shaded slightly red after my comment.

"Uh okay, it's not like I fucking stare, squeeze, or suck them. Dialga, the hell you come from, freak. Who cares if your pokémon has boobs it's not like she's human so one's gonna get wet or pitch a tent." What… the hell did he mean by his last statement? He began walking off with Jewel by his side while I cursed at him from his ignorant remark. "I'm just joking, don't take it seriously," he smiled before continuing off. Jewel shook her head in what looked like embarrassment.

Disappointed I walked back to my room. M-4 doesn't know shit about pokémon. Females are sensitive in that area as much as humans are from what I've researched on. I walked inside and heard running water. The room was almost built like the same design as the one in the yacht. Celsius had turned on the faucet to hot already preparing the large bath tub.

"What are you looking for, Master?"

"I need to find a paw scrub, but M-4 didn't have one, so-"

"It's okay… I don't need one if you can't find one."

"What, but now you have… you know."

"It's fine… I really don't mind," she said timidly which still made me want to object.

With that Celsius turned off the faucet once the tub was half full and climbed in. She backed up against the slanted wall of the tub as the water went up to her neck. I looked around for some shampoo but all I saw was shampoo for people. Fortunately there was some underneath the sink, even a bottle for feathered pokémon which was the one I selected. Celsius dunked her head under water; she dreadfully hated that, and then came back up blinking hard trying to get the water out of her eyes. I poured the shampoo on my hands, and began to scrub her scalp and neck as the soap suds were turning gray. I began moving down her body until I reached her chest.

"It's okay," she spoke, signaling me to go ahead.

I looked at them for a brief second before looking away. They're not that big compared to other women. I knew it wouldn't be until senior year or when I turned ten that I would learn about the subject in school during Sex Ed and why they're such a big deal; well I'm not in school anymore... All I know is from movies, guys like them and women like it when they are touched by someone that they trust, and they hate it when they are touched by someone they don't trust, which is something I think I'll never get. And I guess since most female pokémon can develop breasts, they have that function too.

This is why I must be absolutely careful around Celsius's breasts to not offend her, but I got so caught in my train of thought that I didn't realize what was going on. My hands were in the place where I didn't want them to be. My fingers were meshed in the feathers directly around her…nipples… and both of them, judging from the small pink region with the small nubs sticking out! Crap I shouldn't look there. I thought I was hurting her because she had a hand over her mouth to smother what sounded like cries! I jerked my arms back as she looked aggravated.

"Are you okay! I'm so sorry if I just hurt you just now."

She removed her hand to reveal a smile and a little drool at the sides of her mouth. "You didn't hurt me at all…" She was enjoying it!

Odd…guess she trusts me hehe. I began to finish up with the rest of her body trying to leave that image directly behind me. It almost reminds me of Gardevoir's but much smaller and covered in red feathers, but that didn't put off the still attracting picture-whoa what the fuck! Oh Arceus, that's sick, Gardevoir is one thing since she looks human but a combusken!

A minute later she dunked her body into the water, which was dark gray by now. I made sure to get every spot, except between her legs, and then I drained the tub. By now I put away everything awkward that happened in the tub as hard as it was. I dried my arms off while Celsius climbed out of the tub.

"See that wasn't so bad right? Wow, you look incredible." Her feathers were so soft now; her colors were brighter since all of the dirt got scrubbed off. She also smelled a lot better. I should do this more often. It was like looking at a clearer, brighter image of Celsius.

"I guess it wasn't so bad after all. I just wished you had kept going," she said whispering the last part.

"I should just bathe you more often probably."

After I dried her off her fur literally shimmered in any light making her stand out. We walked out of our room to find Jewel near by.

"You look much better now Celsius. Shall we continue the tour?" Jewel mentioned. I nodded than began following her around the mansion. After about an hour of sight seeing, gasping, and observing, we were on our way back to the third level. Damn, there are even acres of property around this mansion that contained more buildings and what looked like a few miles of forest. "I see that you know a lot about pokémon; a lot more than my master."

"Yeah, I would always research on all sorts of species, legends, and myths."

"You're very smart for someone your age. Teach M-4 a few lessons for me will you," she spoke mentally then smiled.

"Oh I think I will."

"Yeah, he can be down right stupid sometimes. I mean he can't even communicate right. M-60 and Master always curse. It kinda makes M-4 sound…slow. Sometimes I'll actually shut his lips together using psychic for a whole day." she giggled while I kept silent but nodded. "You should smile sometime. There really is no point in keeping a straight face now."

"What's the point, there's no reason to smile neither." I said. "I mean yeah I was shocked by what's around here but that can only last."

"Please, don't be depressed all of the time. It may not look like it but M-4 used to be like you, now he's changed drastically. If you ever need to talk, you can talk to me. Out of the group, I'm the most stable. That goes for you too Celsius, you can talk to me also. M-4 can be rash and stupid at times while M-60 is worse." I looked at Jewel for a few seconds before she spoke again. "You two might feel out of place the entire time you're here, so if you do need to talk I'll be available most of the time." With that she left.

I walked in the room and I was preparing for another shower. I saw Celsius proceed to the bathroom right behind me where she kept trotting over to the room where the toilet was. She closed the door behind her also turning the fan on. Hmm, I think there actually might be something wrong with her system.

Two days after I arrived, it was evening and tonight is the night I prove that I can become an assassin. Celsius and I walked through a quiet hallway underground that led to where I needed to be. My heart was pumping, my palms were sweating, Arceus damn I was so nervous from this event! It felt like I wasn't even walking straight from my legs trembling. Walking directly under the first floor the hallway branched off perpendicular to two different corridors. One part of it is just like the hallway I came from: luxurious and full of paintings and fine carpet. The other however: eerie and cold from nothing but concrete like it was never completed during construction. There wasn't even any lighting down there. From where M-4 told me to go, I must head towards the concrete section. Metal double doors were down the hall. We were walking down the cold gray route going through the doors when we ended up at another set of double doors down the hall that was now illuminated by florescent lighting fixtures. These doors were also metal, and I could hear loud activity from the other side, almost sounded like an arena. From behind me I heard voices past the door we came from.

"Hurry up looking ass. I don't wanna miss this."

"Shut the hell up…"

I recognized the joking laughter of the flippant pair. The taunts were getting louder until they finally got through the door. Both of the assassins weren't wearing trench coats this time. Instead they both just had on white tank tops while M-60 wore Blue baggy jeans and M-4 wore red denim jeans. They noticed me standing in front of the doors.

"Ready for the fight Jonathan? Ready to kick ass," M-60 commented.

"Well hope you guys enjoy the fight," I said sarcastically trying my best to hide my fears.

"Good luck out there and try not to get hurt," Jewel said. Celsius glared at her once she said that.

"Yeah, be beasty!" M-4 added with energy.

Before I pushed the steel door open I pulled an important item out of my pocket and began wrapping it around my left thigh.

"What is that?" M-60 asked pointing at the piece of cloth.

"It's a good luck charm. I wrap this very handkerchief around my leg whenever I'm most likely going to get killed." The white and green piece of the blanket that Gardevoir gave me before I left them was securely tied around my thigh.

"Don't say that, Master! You're going to do fine, like M-60 said, kick ass!" she told me cheering me on.

I opened the door to see a loud crowd full of armed assassins and adult guards. All of the assassins were wearing casual clothing this time with vests and straps to hold their small firearms. The assassins, I saw a few of them before from the two days staying here, were mostly tall, athletic, broad or toned teenagers of both male and female gender; all nine of them. The rest were guards dressed formally. A huge pit sunk deep into the surface in the middle of the room made of concrete walls that were covered by barb wire. Long florescent lamps were emitting very brightly that made the pit dim grey and even black oddly to me to welcome its guest to hell. Livius, Garand, and the Don were in the highest most luxurious chairs on looking the pit. They had serious expressions them selves. Down in the pit were 19 older looking kids that had torn or worn down clothes; just like my own clothes. Anxiety was hitting me like an atom bomb. Everyone down there looked intimidating.

"Where in the hell did those guys come from!" I asked M-60 and M-4.

"They were in the other rooms in the third level, and you're late. You gotta get down there!"

I took a deep breath as I walked past some of the audience.

"Wow, what in the fuck!"

"This is a young kill don't you all think?"

"About fucking time! Hurry up and jump in there stupid ass!" These were some of the sentences that came out of the assassins.

There was a long narrow concrete walkway ledge extending a fourth of the way across the pit. In my opinion teenagers have some kind of killer instinct. They get pissed off for small reasons easily. A rope ladder was hung down the ledge when I walked down the narrow walkway, but I didn't get a chance to use the ladder. Instead one of the assassins shoved me into the pit. Now scared for my life, it really felt like a slow motion fall as I slowly got closer to a few faces. I painfully landed on three people. Feeling my knees and ribs impaled by some hard heads caused the wind to get knocked out of me. Then every single kid around me gathered around and started jumping me. I was right, teenagers do get pissed easily!

"No, Master!" Celsius was yelling in desperation. I saw her about to leap into the pit before an assassin grabbed her and carried her on his shoulder away from the pit before I was drowned by bodies. He better not hurt her.

"It's starting Don." Garand chuckled, "The first round begins now. Assassins, watch and pick ten kids that gather your attention!" Garand ordered for everyone to hear.

From the ground I couldn't see anything. Large fists were bombarding my face as five kids were kneeling around me.

"Wait the fuck is this? He's just some little kid!" one kid yelled as he got off of me.

I used that opportunity to kick one other teen off which gave me enough room to flip the other two over me. I barely got them off as each of them weighed over 100 and something.

"Holy shit…!" the one who left yelled.

How can I stand a chance? I stood up and looked around the deep pit. Yelling was all I could hear. It was like a deadly moch pit where killing was the goal. Everyone was punching anyone they saw. Others tried to run away as they didn't know what to do. Those kids that ran were also jumped. From ages 12 to 16 was what I saw. Teenagers are freaking crazy, but right now I need to fight. I was a bit hesitant, but before I could throw a punch on anyone a loud deafening explosion silenced the whole room. Most of us looked up to find one of the assassins pointing a Remington 870 MCS 12-gauge shotgun towards the ceiling. Smoke was still flowing out of the barrel.

"Okay, time is up and the audience has spoken." The assassin started pointing at some of the kids. "Okay, I want you, you, you-"

"Me?" one slightly overweight teen asked.

"Yes, you fat fuck!"

"Hey don't be making fun of my weight-"

"Hey don't be making fun of my fat ass," the assassin mocked in a childish tone, "Quit bitching!" He pointed at several other kids before announcing again. "Okay you ten got the most attention so we will pair you with each other. Climb out of the pit and get next Garand." With that he rolled down a ladder. "For the rest, you either pussied out or got your sorry asses kicked, so get next to me. You guys will be paired up with each other."

I was nearly wheezing for air when I got out. My heart was pounding with enough force to burst out of my chest. I wasn't pointed at. I'm dead nervous now, even more nervous than when I was at that shoot out. I feel much safer with a gun in hand while other people would think vise versa. I was disappointed at myself. I began touching my face to find it bruised, swollen, and bloodied which was extremely painful when my fingers went in contact with them. Shit, I wished I just didn't touch them. Sometimes I wonder how I can take the pain. Celsius was running to my location until one assassin pulled her away.

"Get with the other pokémon, and pray for your trainer to win. After all, his life depends on it." With that he pointed to the other pokémon in another section of the audience. What did he mean when he said "his life depends on it?"

M-4 walked over to my location. "I saw you get beasted on." I was panting too hard for me to hear so I looked at him with a questioning look. "I said you did good." He looked at Garand who was pairing some of the kids to fight.

Okay, so I did really badly just now. The next round I should win since I won't be going up against five people, but then again most of these kids look pretty experienced let alone huge. The first round is about to start and the pairing is the confused fat teen with a very, very buff looking teen. The overweight kid climbed down the ladder while the preteen leapt into the pit doing a front flip. The assassin with the shotgun yelled, "Fight!" and with that movement had begun between the two.

"Come on fat shit, what you gonna do?" The buff teen began throwing taunts then he just stood there. "You want some cake? You'll get some when I'm done with you. Don't worry, the red stuff that comes out of you will be strawberry icing," he laughed. "Yeah, sounds good does it!"

The overweight teen charged at him with speed fast for a fat ass. He threw a punch, but the buff teen countered by quickly doing a sideways flip out of the way like a cart wheel with no hands and grabbing the arm that the overweight kid threw; he knows capoeira, shit! The momentum of the speed forced the pair to spin around a few times. The stupidity of the overweight kid caused him to lose his balance from being dizzy. Seriously what kind of idiot would stumble around in a fight? He took the overweight kid's arm and forced it behind his back in an awkward painful angle. The buff teen began pushing him face first towards the wall which was covered in razor barb wire. Everyone was cheering for the preteen.

"No, don't… stop. Please!" he cried from the fear of being killed.

No matter how cruel or bad it seemed, I waited for the overweight teen to meet Darkrai as he got impaled in numerous points on his body by the barb wire.

"That won't do shit! His fatness will armor him from the blades!" With that everyone began laughing from one of the assassin's remark.

That assassin was wrong as the buff teen backed up to let the overweight kid fall back. Once the overweight teen hit the floor, the vision of his death was confirmed as I saw a dark hole formed in each of his eyes. A waterfall of blood ran out of his eyes while his clothes were stained dark red around the areas he got impaled. The barb wire is long enough to reach the brain, so there was no hope of him surviving. The assassins were amused as they cheered the buff guy on. Arceus, he just killed a kid but he doesn't even care.

"How do you like that, strawberry?" He snarled at the body.

Garand came over to our side to choose the next fight. He randomly pulled out two more teenagers from the loser side. Both of the kids climbed into the pit and with the assassin's approval they began fighting. Everyone was watching the fight but after two minutes the assassin that started the fight, that also seems to be in charge of this entire event, took his shotgun and fired it into the air.

"Okay, times up. From the judging of Garand and the Don the winner will be claimed." He then pointed to one of the two.

The winner, which did most of the fighting, raised his arms in victory, but I knew from his expression that he isn't happy about the fact that he's going to fight that buff kid. The loser was punching the ground from his lost. How does the Don expect me to tough out this crap?

After seven more fights, all of them two minutes, I was beginning to get anxious. During some of the fights, the assassins threw in melee weapons. Bats, crowbars, hammers, anything that could be swung were thrown into the pit. More than one was thrown in at a time, so the fighters had a variety to choose from, and then it would look almost like a sword fight.

Garand pointed at me, so now it's my turn to fight. My heart began racing. I can't screw up this fight. The only people I fought in close combat were two gang members that were about to kill Juggernaut, and they did not know how to fight. I just have to trust that Lucario's teachings will benefit me because all of the teens that fought so far are huge and know a fighting style.

I climbed down the ladder to enter the pit. The guy in front of me was extremely tall. He was around 5'10" while I was probably 4'11". He had a slender build with some muscle. I don't know if I'm at a good advantage. He's very freaking tall, but he also doesn't have a lot of muscle. Plus, I'm pretty tall myself for my age. The head assassin gave us the clearance to begin.

"You guys paired me up with a squirt. I don't even have to do anything! I can just hold my hand against his head and he can't reach me!" he laughed followed by the audience.

My fear slipped away as he insulted my size. Don't ever underestimate in a fight. He may be older but I'm without a doubt smarter. He actually did stretch his arm all the way to put his hand on my head to try and prevent me from getting to him. I grabbed his wrist, pressed against his major vein in the center of his wrist, and pulled his arm towards me. He grunted and his face was as low as mines so I kicked him right in the chin with ease. He stepped back grasping his jaw yelling at the process.

"Oh you're gonna get it now you mother-"

In a split second, his foot collided into my stomach in a shunt kick. I stumbled backwards but I stayed on my feet. Thank Arceus that I do push ups and sit ups every night because not a whole lot of wind was knocked out of me…plus the aura I think helped add resistance. Then he began pushing me around like he was humiliating me. While he was toying with me though, some kind of force took over me. I felt so much anger surging through my veins that I involuntarily let out a loud beast like roar, which I felt stupid about. Then I effortlessly grabbed both his arms and shoved them both out of the way towards his right side leaving his left wide open. I began punching him hard in the ribs since I couldn't reach his face. Anger was flowing through my blood as I used combos to quickly punch and kick him. His face would lower enough for me to reach. I kept on going until he was too dazed to even know where he was. As a final move, I used his tall size as a disadvantage; I punched him to a wall full of barb wire, gripped one of his arms with both hands, and literally ran up his body using his arm to help pull me up. Once my foot met his chin, I kicked at it swiftly while I was mid air and upside down only less than a foot above the ground. I knew my legs created some kind of blur which I never knew I could do. Blood flew out of his mouth in all directions as I landed several kicks before I landed on the ground. While crouched, I swept my legs through his which tripped him and knocked him over. The hard impact to the concrete floor instantly knocked him out.

While panting I looked up a little surprised to see several shocked faces. All of their eyes were wide and there mouths hung wide open on the hinges.

"W-winner… for knocking that sorry ass mother fucker the fuck out!" he stuttered then finished with enthusiasm. Everyone then cheered and yelled aloud for me. M-60 and M-4 was cheering madly for me. Celsius seemed way too shocked to move. I took a look at my hands in utter fear not believing that I brought that kid down. I noticed my palms were both glowing blue, but barely enough for me to really see it! That burst of energy felt like that night the shoot out was…Shit, what if I got my aura back? I tried to forget about it so I don't lose my concentration in the fights as I climbed out of the pit where M-4 and M-60 were the first to greet me.

"RAWR!" M-4 duplicated, "Arceus damn that was one beasty ass roar! Since when in the fuck did you learn that trick! When you kicked him your legs were like…damn!" he chuckled.

"Okay now next time, do what you did except don't get hit because we also look to see if you are a good fighter, and they're teens, they might knock you to oblivion if you get hit in the face once," M-60 explained.

"Thanks for the tip. I know a shit load more moves than that," I kind of smiled a little happy from the praise.

"What the fu-How old are you?"

"Nice ass win!"

"I never thought you would be that strong!" The assassins were giving me lots of attention.

"Whatever, he ain't gonna make it! I bet money on it."

Celsius was trying to force her way through one assassin, but he kept her at bay. If that assassin were to hit her then I would probably go on a rampage, but surprisingly he wasn't using a lot of force. After two more fights, we began the second round. All of the losers that lived were put in another room. Two assassins went in with rifles ready. Then the door was shut. That's when I noticed that if we lose we get killed! Damn it M-4 never told me this.

The buff teen eventually fought the winner of the second fight, but unfortunately it ended with the preteen killing him by hitting him directly in the cranium with a baseball bat. That guy is the only teen to have murdered anyone so far, and it seems that he mainly uses capoeira as a fighting technique. He used it against that kid by doing acrobatic kicks to his face. He climbed out shamelessly, and seemed proud that he killed two kids. The assassins loved him for it. They all prayed that he would win this event and become the next assassin.

Two more fights went on, and now it was my turn to face off. By now the pit was full of dark rusted stains.

Once I got in I scanned my opponent for weaknesses. My opponent was far different from everyone else. My opponent is a girl and seems like the youngest looking one, second to me! At first I remembered that I was told by my parents I can't hit girls, but if she made it this far then she must be good, real good and dangerous. Her build was fit and toned for any fight. She looked like she was 11 or 12 years old. Her blonde hair was messy and ruffled up from the fights as it curled down to her chest, her light skin tone was mixed in dried blood and grime, while her dark brown eyes showed signs of anger, sadness, despair, and even grief. She shows the same emotions that I always show. The head assassin told us to begin, but I couldn't move. Her eyes told me something. They told me that she must be going through the same crap as me, and I feel so bad.

"I'm sorry, but I must win this fight." Her voice showed signs of determination. After saying that she spun kicked me in the face causing blood and spit to fling around as I spun to the ground. I was facing down when she got my arms crossed behind my back. I got my mind back to my goals. I scooted my legs forward as I was trying to build a base. I steadily got up and back to my feet with her still hanging on my back. "Damn, you are strong," she grunted keeping her legs up.

I remained silent and almost lost my balance from her comment. Either the energy I was using was causing me to sweat, shiver, and lose or her remark was. My arms were still kept behind my back. I was about to run her into the barbwire but I couldn't. I didn't want to hurt her badly. Everyone was laughing at me since she was winning so far. I then purposely fell backwards putting lots of pressure on her. My arms now free, I got up. I hesitated to get on my knees and punch her while she was on the ground but with enough will power I did not knowing what else to do. For every hit I was cautious. She managed to move through the pain as I found out I had made a huge mistake: her leg was in between my legs as I was punching her. She brought her foot up to my crotch which caused me to cry and roll off. The audience gave off an "ooh damn!" as they winced in pain from watching me get kicked there. I was on my side still stunned in that area and kidneys when she began kicking me around the chest. I rolled my back on the floor. I had to do something because I must be losing badly right now. I have to knock her out. I ignored the pain in my lower stomach as I pushed myself away from her legs then got up. She charged at me, and I noticed she was crying as she did so. I got out of the way and grabbed her. I put her in a headlock from behind. She then started bawling. Her tears were running down my arm as she tried to get out but couldn't.

"No! I have to win I can't lose! I'm sorry but I can't lose. I have a goal to complete!" she pleaded as she sobbed.

I felt so crappy for doing this to her. She may die if I do this. "I'm sorry but I also have a goal to complete." I said that slowly as a tear trickled down my cheek. I then pushed my fore arms against her neck to constrict her veins which knocked her out ending the fight.

"Winner by knockout," the head assassin yelled. Everyone cheered and made good comments but I ignored them.

Afterwards I got out of the pit and back to my group. I then went up to M-60.

"M-60… what will happen to these losers?"

"Ha, Jonathan's in love!" he replied teasing me. I growled then tried to forget about the insult. She is cute after all and she has lots of strength. "She's gonna live. She's a girl and she almost kicked your ass, so the Don probably likes that. Besides, she's one of the youngest ones so we brought her here for that reason, so don't worry about it. Why, you wanna pound that ass huh, all night long huh?" he chuckled.

"I just did, she's passed out! Probably can't walk right for awhile thanks to that hold I forced her into!" I yelled.

M-60 snickered than began laughing hysterically. "Oh wow… that shit's funny as fuck!" he said between laughs before gasping for air to laugh some more, "Never mind man I forgot you were a kid, oh shit I'm gonna tell M-4 what you just said though." He walked away grabbing his gut as he began having another laughing fit. I glanced over at Celsius who was still looking at me worriedly.

More fights passed. It was now the semi finals round. The buff teen won, but he didn't kill his opponent this time. I'm getting really sick and tired of his cocky attitude.

Now it was my turn again. I got in the pit and awaited my opponent to come down. This fight is going to be even more shocking than the fight with the girl. The opponent, or opponents, came down to face me. There are three of us in the damn pit! What the Fuck!

"We will now start the brawl fight. Good luck, now fight!"

My two opponents looked at each other before nodding. Each of them was now walking towards me. Shit, I'm on my own! The audience threw two golf clubs towards my area. I picked up one in each hand, which I would normally never do. One of the teens began running towards me. I sidestepped, but he stopped, grabbed the end of my club, and yanked it away before I could swing. The other teen also yanked my other club away when I didn't notice he was there. Now they were both armed. One assassin threw a rope towards me, but I found no use of it.

"They have a fucking club and you throw me a rope!" I yelled.

"You need that more than anything else right now!" she yelled back.

I stepped pass the rope as one of the teens ran towards me again. He did a side swing that was aimed at my head. I ducked and rapidly punched him several times in the body. I hit his stomach, then the ribs, and the final hardest punch was to his jaw. The other kid was about to swing at me. I took the kid I just hit and used him as a human shield. The shield worked as he hit him right in the collar bone. His shoulder now showed a slant which showed a very painful broken clavicle. I let the teen go, but his partner kept on hitting him as he was on the floor. The other kid swung the club at his shin hard. The top kid fell down gripping his knee as the other kid slowly got up even though he was groaning from his shoulder injury, but he fell back down almost knocked out from the pain. The teen that got knocked in the shin got up and walked away from the other teen thinking he was knocked out. He swung at me and I dodged again and again until I finally found an open spot. I grabbed his inside elbow with my left hand and pressed as hard as I could against the nerve that controlled his fingers. The sudden pain caused him to drop the club. I then twisted his arm, yanked him so his face was in front of my leg. I let go than instantly swung my body to the left causing my right leg to follow in a sideways swing motion with the laces of my shoes aimed at him in a powerful roundhouse kick. Like this was in slow motion, the hit to his jaw bone spun him around midair before he fell to the ground.

Before I could confirm that he was knocked out, I felt pressure around my ankle to see a lassoed rope had got around my left leg when I stepped back. My leg was yanked away and I flew upwards upside down. The kid with the broken bone got the rope to go over and around the concrete ledge as I was fighting the other kid the whole time. He pulled it down as I got higher and higher. I was then hung upside down by my left ankle. He tied the rope around a strand of barb wire to ensure I didn't move. The audience was cheering and yelling madly, then one of them threw an unordinary weapon down for the first time: a Glock Pistol! The kid that got me where I was picked up the gun, but then the other kid that I was about to finish got him in a headlock. He was trying to take the gun away from behind. However, before he could yank it out of his hands, the kid that had the gun began pulling the trigger in panic. One of the bullets shot through the other kid's chin and out the top of his skull. Blood and pink, orange chunks landed around the pit. Now dead he slowly fell back as the other teen with the gun began shaking violently. He had shock and fear drawn all over his face.

"What… what have I… what have I done? I… I killed… someone. No it can't be! I never meant it!" He was shaking to the point that he dropped the gun.

"Big fucking deal, you killed somebody now kill the other kid!" the buff teen yelled.

"Shut up you freak! I'm a murderer, a fucking murderer!" he snapped.

"You're a murderer so finish the job!" the audience shouted.

He looked at the murder weapon, slowly picked it up, and cocked the slider back. He then aimed it at me. I was starting to get frantic. I shook around and reached up to my ankle to try and untie myself. I couldn't get out, fuck! My heart was pumping so fast it was going to kill me! Then I heard a gun shot followed by splattering sounds. I thought it was me that got shot and I just couldn't feel it because of adrenaline. Instead I looked at the shooter who was still standing with the gun aimed at the side of his head. It was dead silent in the room. He started to lean over to one side before he fell. A puddle of dark metallic liquid was forming around his head. The silence broke as the crowd cheered for me and booed at the one who committed suicide. The head assassin jumped down and cut the rope off of me causing me to fall flat on my head and that probably looked hysterical to the audience. I got out of the pit a little shaken by the incident.

"I can't believe it Jonathan. You freakin' made it to the final round! Now you face off with that guy!" M-4 was very excited.

"Dialga, he actually made it this far! Tauros shit, fucking impossible, I wish I could do that!"

"Hah, you owe me!"

"Hey, I said if he doesn't make it out alive!"

I looked over the other side to find my opponent is the buff ass teenager. Someone that could be seven years older than me, but there is something deep within me that was fueling my aggression which caused me to not be intimidated at all. My anger towards him is firing up the adrenaline with each step I take into the pit. He's a shameless murderer that laughs at his victims' deaths. He developed a very cocky attitude during the event and he shows that cockiness in his kicks and punches by doing so many unnecessary flips towards his opponent. That cockiness is what's going to cost him because I have a plan so if he does charge at me doing front flips then it's over for him.

The head assassin started the fight. Yelling and cheering was rocking the chamber louder than ever. We both stood at one spot. None of us even moved a muscle. Then an assassin threw a chainsaw into the pit, but the preteen just shrugged it off.

"It's okay people. I got his bitch ass!" he laughed.

As I predicted, he started flipping towards my direction in front flips. His hand deflected him off the ground and onto his feet and back to his hands. I know capoeira and there's a weakness in it. You have to be very fast when attempting an acrobatic stunt, but he was slow thinking I'm just a pushover. He got closer and closer until he was less then a foot in front of me. He was getting back on his feet from his last flip while cocking his arm back. I cocked my arm back as well as far as I could and when his face was fully exposed I delivered the first and final blow directly to his nose with my full force before he could even swing. The combined kinetic forces of his face to my fist directed all of the momentum from his flips back causing him to fall backwards. He landed hard on the ground twitching before passing out.

I kneeled down to his face. "That's what happens when your cocky, punk ass." I then got back up and took a look at the audience.

It was dead silent. "Dialga fuck, that was some beasty ass shit," I heard M-4 whistle behind a few assassins to where most of them just glared at him. "What, he's just a beast!" he backed up followed by M-60 who began yelling my name.

M-60 and M-4 started a wave of cheering. Eventually the shocked faces began cheering and they learned my name, my fake name, and began chanting it. I got out of the pit to be welcomed by pats and handshakes.

"Holy crap, that was so simple but fucking effective."

"God damn, I'm fucking jealous! I hear you have Life Energy buddy!"

"Shut the hell up-no, you owe me, don't make that face hand it over!"

I know I won, but most of it all has to do with my aura just like that assassin just mentioned indirectly…Then Garand silenced us.

His presence of walking towards the assassins silenced the whole room. He walked up to me and held out his hand. "Congratulations Jonathan, you are the primary trainee to become a Mafia 14 Assassin." I took his hand, shook, then he looked back at everyone. "Four casualties. That means we must choose only five people, but that's too little. I will now choose six fighters to join Jonathan at the training grounds. You seven will be going through physical and mental training to learn how to hunt down your enemies for the next nine months. Resisting training will result in immediate execution. Jonathan, Blake, Jamal, Jake, Alec, Alma, and Keith will become trainees. Only one of them will be chosen to become assassins, so congratulations all of you. Each of you will meet with me in my quarters exactly two weeks from today for a discussion about all of your daily routines." The Don, Livius, and Garand left the chamber leaving the fighters and assassins behind.

Blake, the buff guy who just regained consciousness, Jamal, Blake's surviving opponent, Jake, an opponent of some guy, Alec, an opponent of the kid that killed himself, Alma, my opponent that was a girl; thank Arceus that she made it and she's going to be with me- us, and Keith, an opponent of the other kid that was shot. We are all going to train to become assassins? The real question is that do they even want to become assassins or were they all forced into this like pawns trying to give this family a big reputation. I don't want to have to be an assassin but whatever it takes to earn trust.

Fifteen minutes later we all left the basement. Celsius met me on the first floor. The amazing thing is that all of my clothes are ripped and bloodied except for one thing. The cloth that Gardevoir gave is completely unharmed with no blood on it! I untied it and tucked in my pocket with some of it exposed out.

"Jonathan, I was so fucking Arceus damn worried about you!" She then began bursting into tears, "I'm so glad you are all right!" She took me by surprise by hugging me while I felt her warm tears going through my now bloodied shirt. Some of the assassins saw us like this but for now I didn't care.

"They didn't hurt you did they?" I asked.

"No I'm fine, I watched the whole time. You were almost killed!"

I looked past Celsius shoulder to see Garand watching us at the main stairway. "I see that you and your pokémon have a very strong bond, a bond so strong that the last time I've seen something like it was the Don and his persian."

"Thank you, I care for pokémon too much to harm one. Mind if I ask what happened to his persian?"

"Even though he cared about his persian, he was gambling for some extra money and fun when he lost his own pokémon to the very leader of Team Rocket himself." If you love your pokémon so much then why would you bet it like an item? "Get showered and cleaned up. The Don and I will treat you both to a very, very nice dinner tonight. Our grunts will provide you with a suit for formal wear."

"Thank you sir. And Celsius?" I wanted Celsius by my side.

"She's coming too as I said," he smiled.

"Thank you, we'll be ready shortly."

I washed myself up wincing from the hot tap water and soap touching my wounds. "Oww... fuck that hurts!" After I dried off, I found a black and white suit and shirt with pants and slick shoes on the bed. The trademark purple tie and collar was set down on the suit.

"A maid dropped it off while you were in the shower," Celsius pointed out next to her before grabbing it. "I think you might need help putting it on," she giggled from noticing how stiff and hurt I was.

"Mmm, thanks for noticing," I said sarcastically but with a joking laugh followed up.

I dropped the towel and got dressed in the tuxedo as best as I could. Celsius brought me to the giant bathroom mirror where she helped me get dressed in the suit. Damn, how did they get the sizes perfect just from observation? She fixed up some of the mistakes I made putting it on. I only dressed in a suit a few times and I was hurting all over so I messed up in a few places. Celsius has observed my mom and dad getting dressed for special presentations before so she knows what to do.

"Oww, be more gentle. Damn are you sure you know what you're doing?" I asked as she yanked one of my sleeves down causing it to rub against one of my many wounds.

"Don't think I don't know how to dress you up. I remember when Mom helped you put on a suit for that wedding, and I know every last detail of how a suit should be worn." She yanked down my sleeves, cupped up my pants around the ankles, and made sure my tie was tied perfectly. Just like what Mom did.

"Mother, Father, everyone…" I sighed. I remember that wedding. Funny how I barely cared about that day until now because that's a picture of my whole family getting together and I've been taking it for granted. Celsius looked up at me wondering what I said. "That's why we're here. We are here to punish these bastards for what they had done to my family and every other person. We'll give them the fist of Giratina, Celsius. But… do you think we are doing the right thing?" I paused to think over what my mom would actually want me to do. "Wow, what have I become." I had my hand over my face prodding my eyes from frustration. I never thought about the consequences.

"Master?"

"Celsius, we were supposed to move on. Think about it. I don't think Mom or Dad would want us to kill people, no matter how angry we are. They would want me to stay in school, be successful, and take care of you, and stay safe but so far all I've done is cause you so much torture. Fuck!" I began tearing from the guilt that I was facing.

"Rayn!" Celsius firmly caught my attention with her expression. "I don't know if you are right, but I think its best that we ran away. The Mafia would've found us out long ago if we stayed with another family. Also, if we did get adopted we could've had gotten separated and possibly treated wrongly. I know you feel down about the guilt, trust me so do I, but we can't do anything about it now. If we leave we will die, and I'm sure as hell know that the least Mom and Dad wants is for us to stay alive. Yes, I agree that they would not want us to kill people but what other choice do we have. Besides, we're fighting for a good cause if you think about it. How many people have turned out like us because of these people? We're putting a stop to this so it never happens again to anyone."

"We still could've been adopted and continue with our lives."

By now Celsius stood on the counter and began combing my hair around with her claws. "There is a good chance that our foster parents would've treated us worse then Juggernaut."

"Yeah," I said weakly before I then understood, "I guess you are right. There is something more important right now, and that is to stay alive. And Celsius, we will stay alive, and we will end this together." I stopped crying and began growing more confident. "We couldn't survive in the streets. We found a home that got us here. Now we have to finish this fight."

"Master, do you promise that you will stay alive? I don't want you to leave me alone. I… want to do this with you… so it's more effective." I saw a few pieces of hair fall from Celsius cutting off a few pieces of hair with her claws probably to make it cleaner.

I sighed from the "promise" thing. "Celsius, I'm sorry but I can't promise that because I can't find it in me to make promises anymore. If I promise you then die then it's just like lying, but I will do what I can to keep us both living until we die naturally. I'll make sure nothing will take you away from me either."

Celsius looked at me intently then nodded with courage. After patting around me she stood back. "Wow, you look really handsome, as ever!" All I did was blush. Mom said that to me all the time…

Later we joined Garand at the bottom of the stairs and we each walked out of the house and back into the limo. Inside were the Don, Livius, M-4, and a hand full of grunts who were already seated. I really don't feel comfortable being with the Don. It feels like they plan on killing me.

Once we got to the restaurant, other limos and exotic cars were being parked by valet. The building is actually five levels high. Inside were full of tables covered with purple decorative cloth, we were seated in the largest table which was in the back of the restaurant. The lighting from the ceiling was slightly tinted to make the inside look dim and the walls had luxurious and priceless paintings hung up just like at the mansion. A giant carved modern statue of some shape and geometry was sitting in the middle of the whole level that stood over 30 feet high. As I continued walking I overhead a few conversations that was about me. They knew I was the winner of the fights, but they never knew I would be this small compared to what they've seen before. People even had surprised faces on them once they caught a glimpse of me; it kind of intimidated me. I got really close to Celsius as we walked further in. There were waitresses handing alcohol to the adults. It looked as if a celebration is about to commence. There were so many Mafia grunts around us that were sitting at other tables. Other rich parties were also around us, and all the tables were neatly decorated. Minutes after being seated, several Mafia Grunts sat at the table near the Don, and these grunts were dressed differently. With the grey suits they wore a little teal. It must've been a ranking system and these grunts are ranked the highest.

"You see Jonathan; this building is a meeting destination where we meet with our acquaintances and clients. We discuss plans and introduce new items to each other. We also come here to buy items useful to our organization. When there's no meeting it is a five star restaurant that I own with other large businesses I control," the Don explained in a calm tone. His nephew, Livius, looked bored as he signaled for a waitress. Each of the adults and Livius were given a clear liquid with floating suds to drink. The Don held his glass up high over the round table. "For this occasion, we are here to celebrate the new recruits and our new winner that'll hopefully become the next assassin. Let us hear it for Jonathan; we each have high hopes for you." With that everyone huddled their glasses around the center of the table and tapped them together. Everyone had a smile on their faces. Livius though was looking right at me which made me even more scared. If he suspects something then I'll be executed in the middle of the whole restaurant.

"I see the potential in you," he spoke to me with glowing blue eyes as everyone else conversed, "Just by looking at you I see great potential for this family, I mean it, so don't screw up one damn bit." All I did was nod a little uncomfortably.

M-4 was sitting next to me with an unusual serious look that almost matched my look. He probably can't look dumb when around Garand. "There are so many other families here that are involved with us. There are also organizations here too. Team Rocket for example is our number one client… did I sound like a fag just now? I hate talking formal," added M-4.

"You mean those guys that do experiments on pokémon to enhance their powers!" I blurted. "Oh sorry, I honestly didn't mean to yell out like that." I thought M-4 or Garand would've pulled out a gun on me.

"I understand, and I agree. You see Jonathan, one of our codes of our organization is: Respect and cherish the life of a pokémon like ones' family member. That means that neglect towards pokémon is intolerable in our organization, and we promote that because we use pokémon as partners in our operations. That's one of the reasons why I wanted Juggernaut dead. The only reason why we are part of Team Rocket is because they supply us with Black Arms weapons and the newest technology." The Don was being unbelievably kind to me.

"You guys actually care about pokémon? Wow, there are so many people in the world that don't."

"Of course, I have always cared for pokémon. You are just like me Jonathan." The Don was actually smiling at me and enjoying my company, but I still can't let my guard down.

The food arrived and I ordered mainly sea food since that's my favorite kind of food. I hate seeing a pokémon get harmed, but when it comes to natural food chains, eating pokémon won't bother me at all. It's only if pokémon are killed for no reason.

Minutes after eating, all of the rich adults were about talking and conversing to each other about who knows what and drinking at the same time. There were many people at the Don's table. M-4 was showing me to all of the people around.

"How were your krabby legs? You were eatin' them like no freakin' tomorrow."

"I haven't had food like that in awhile so shut up. I have never seen legs that big before, and it's already cut in half so I don't have to crack it!"

"Yeah, the Don hires his own private cooks, butlers, waiters, doctors, drivers, pilots, bodyguards, which is me, and every other crazy mother fucker to attend either here or at the house. Remember complete luxury, well not in eight months at least for you."

"Oh yeah, training; I forgot about that. Well, what's it like?"

"Pfft! Only the most beastly guy will make it alive. You know why. Because at the end there's a final test to see if you're ready to become an assassin and it's a free for all death match on some island. You have to be the last one alive to make it and shit."

"WHAT!" I yelled. What if I don't make it that day? They never talked about a death match!

"It's okay, trust me. Shit, out of all of those teenagers you are the best since you got that aura up in you. So you'll make it, but it'll be a bitch." We kept walking around the large building talking while M-4 showed me the people around. "Wait, you gotta meet this guy." We walked over to a man wearing a brown suit while carrying a metal brief case who was talking to a few adults. M-4 walked up to him. "Aww shit, what you got this time, it better be worth somethin' too?"

"Oh its' a new species for you assassins," the person smirked.

"Jon, this is Ron, just Ron, our pokémon supplier from Johto. He finds and trains them himself just to become our partners." M-4 introduced.

"Jonathan I already heard a lot about you. I have big hopes for you kid." He shook my hand then set the brief case down on a near by table while we waited to see what was inside.

He opened the case to reveal three shiny red and white orbs that each holds a pokémon within them.

"So, what's in the pokeballs," M-4 asked.

"They're fire types this time, hold on." Ron reached into a pocket slit in the briefcase.

"Oh Arceus, please be a Houndoom or shit a Flareon. I'd do anything for that beast," M-4 pleaded next to me.

Before Ron knew it, one of the pokeballs popped open and out came our answer. In the white silhouette was a small quadruped pokémon. The very rare starter fire pokémon of the Johto region was a cyndaquil, a young male too about Celsius age. The blue and cream colored pokémon turned around and began growling at Ron. Ron immediately grabbed the ball he came out of and pressed the center button to suck the pokémon back inside in the red light stream. "That one just never obeys me, damn it. Damn no one will want you if you're going to act like that," he sighed to the pokeball as he held it in front of his face.

"What's wrong with him?" I asked.

"He's the only cyndaquil that I had managed to find in the wild while the others were bought from a breeder that works for the league. Since he's older than the rest, he's rebellious, so I don't know what to do. No one will want him; unless M-4 wants it."

"Nope, you know I only collect canine pokémon, so why don't you ever find an Eevee or Poochyena or other beasts like them?"

"You know how hard it is to find a fucking Eevee! I still don't know how you found yours," Ron fumed.

Jose moved part of his suit to reveal the enlarged pokeball that was clipped to his belt. Jewel must be out but I haven't seen her all night. "Fuck me neither, how does a five year old boy get an Eevee in the wild when a grown up bitch can't," he replied with a jokey tone at the same time.

"Wait, I'll take the cyndaquil. I have always wanted a typhlosion so I'll take him and I'll train him until he listens to my commands," I confidently said.

"You sure Jonathan, what if you lose control of him? He is a fire type after all," Ron argued.

"You see that combusken over at that table eating those watermelons?" I pointed to see Celsius's face covered in pink watermelon juice as she took another bite. "She belongs to me, and she's very obedient."

"Oh alright, alright, fine I'll give him to you since you did win the fights tonight anyways." He placed the pokeball in my palms and pressed them together. "Do you promise to train and cherish this pokémon as if it was your little brother, and will you train him with respect so that he shall learn the meaning of loyalty?"

A freaking promise! "I shall take great care of him Ron…"

He sighed, "M-4 can you teach him the 'Assassin's Partner Claim' and what you are supposed to say."

M-4 huffed in irritation. "He shall train him the meaning of loyalty as he shall teach loyalty to him self." He said with boredom to Ron before looking at me. "Anytime Ron gives anyone a pokémon you have to say what I just said. It's some kind of oath we do to practice the code. The wording's gay as hell though…"

"Wow, is the Mafia a whole other nation?"

"Actually it is like one because we have our own military, which is us, we have our own pokémon, and we even have an education system that's better than Hoenn's."

"Whoa, there's school here?"

"Yeah, home schooling by bringing in actual teachers looking for a job. We are actually beastier than the "normal graduates" of Hoenn."

"That's hard to believe hearing that from you."

"The hell's that supposed to mean?" M-4 threatened.

"Nothing, hold on I'll be back." I ran over to Celsius with the ball behind my back. Rushing, I bumped into a tall person.

"Watch it brat!" His clothing was all black with the famous big red "R" on his shirt. He walked away towards a very broad man that sat next to the Don, and he was wearing an orange suit with a persian sitting on his lap. Listening in there conversation for a few seconds, I heard the Don call him Giovanni. So he's the leader of Team Rocket and I'm looking straight at him…and that's the persian The Don lost, wow. I should remember to kill him too when I get a good chance.

"Hey Celsius, you won't believe what I've just got."

"What?" she mumbled still having a mouthful of fruit.

I then held out the pokeball. "Welcome our new member to the team."

Celsius froze with her mouth wide open and still stuffed. She swallowed her food. "Master, what in the hell? What if that pokémon knows all about the Mafia and is loyal to them? He couldn't help us."

"No, he doesn't know anything because a pokémon supplier just taught him how to be obedient, but he failed, so I got him. And I will take good care of him now."

"But…what about me?" she pleaded.

"I'll give both of you an equal amount of attention okay. It's part of being a trainer. Trainers catch more and more pokémon. Come on; let's go to a quieter room to introduce each other. I don't want all this noise to scare him. Besides he's a male fire type and slightly younger then you if you compare the ages."

"Hey, what's that's supposed to mean?" she asked blushing before following me.

I looked around to find a smaller room. We got in one and closed the door. Then I let out our new teammate. After the light faded, he was facing us. Celsius had an annoyed look on her face. Cyndaquil let out a cry of communication.

**(POV)**

"What the hell. Where are you Ron!" the little cyndaquil yelled. Really, a cyndaquil?

"Who's Ron?" I questioned.

"Ron, that pokémon supplier guy that caught me when I was minding my own business long ago. Where the hell is he?" Eh, he's cute, but I'm the type of pokémon that only wants one mate and I plan on that to be my master.

"He's not here and you don't have to deal with him anymore." I was a little annoyed by his complaining however.

"Really, thank Arceus," he sighed then looked up at me. I followed his eye movement as he scanned my whole body stopping at various spots and blushing at the same time.

"HEY!" I snapped.

"Ahh-sorry, sorry. Uhh, can I ask of your name miss… and- and his name too?" he looked down to the ground before sighing, "Smooth…damn it."

Ha, wow he really does find me cute! "Hey, I ask the questions. Do you know anything about the Mafia and their goals?"

"N-no, all I know is that I'm trained to follow my next trainers' orders and who is he anyways if Ron isn't here anymore."

"So you don't know anything about The Don then?" He shook his head. He does look pretty clueless. "Okay then, your new master is Rayn."

"What's he saying Celsius?" Master asked.

"Sorry but hold on a sec," I replied to Master.

The cyndaquil looked around to find Rayn. As soon as he saw him he straightened up and looked serious. "So you are my new trainer. I guess I have to obey you…" he spoke bluntly.

"Now tell me what he is saying." Master demanded.

"It looks like he accepts you as a trainer." Hmm, he seems to not care about Master though.

"What should I name you then?" Master was thinking for a minute before he came up with a name. "I got it! How does this sound, Fahrenheit!"

"Hmm, I never heard the word before and it does sound unique. Eh, I'll take that name I guess." He nodded towards Rayn.

"Whatever, just remember I'm the alpha. Got it?" I scolded at him.

"What's the problem? Did I do something wrong?" He pleaded. Is he really scared of me but not of his own trainer?

"Oh my Arceus, this is going to be a long night," Rayn groaned.

**(POV)**

The fight event is over and Celsius and I finally got a chance to be close with the Don. For some reason, he's a very nice guy, and so is Garand. I don't get it. They commit many crimes, but they have good character, and the worst thing is Celsius and I are getting comfortable staying within our enemies house. Maybe it's just their way of letting my guard down, well that's not going to work. Until I become an assassin then I can't think of any plans to kill the Don, so I have to win that death match and put all my strength into it.

But damn…near the end of this ordeal...Fuck it, I know damn well this is a suicide mission!

To Be Continued

Wow, not much editing had to done in this chapter. It was pretty good before I began.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Reflection of the Future

Feliciano Mafia Family, a notorious criminal organization who treats their victims with brutality as I've seen years before I was recruited by them. Running the organization very well, the leader is called and is only called the Don who holds unimaginable power that he can't be touched by anyone outside the main mansion where his headquarters resides; hell even most people in the organization can never meet him. He's in charge of the entire business, and he runs it like a dictator. This family might as well be called a whole different nation full of very loyal nationalists, workers, and soldiers because this organization has its own laws, rules, and services. Months ago I became a soldier for this "nation" by competition.

The child assassins seem to have given good advice about assassinating properly and have been for the past nine months of me being here, being my instructors in the field. The Don seems to be surprisingly caring and generous but only to those that are in the family. He loves pokémon more than anyone I've ever met while Garand, his second in command, knows almost as much as I do about them. It seems it's only enemies that are tortured and treated like hell which can be witnessed in the basement chambers, but how was my family an enemy to the Mafia in the first place? I know have to find that out first before I kill these people.

Fahrenheit, my cyndaquil was, just like Ron said, very rebellious, but overtime I trained him to learn the meaning of loyalty. Celsius is usually the one to get him to cooperate since I believe Fahrenheit wants her as a mate. I don't blame him though. He was put in a cage for two years and says the only pokémon he could talk to were the other two cyndaquil who barely talked to him. He also says Celsius is the only female he has seen in a long time which is probably why he's inferior around her; well who knows.

Loyalty, that's a word that is always stated in this business. The Mafia strongly uses the word "loyalty" to teach the higher elite grunts and the assassins that we are one big family. I seem to always bring up that word with Celsius and Fahrenheit now that the term is basically instilled in me because it's the only topic that I can agree with these people. This family sure does know how to create a tight party well, but as organized and polite they are to me I still hate their guts. Celsius has stuck by me and trained with me all this time. Fahrenheit is now a very loyal pokémon that takes orders from me and only me, and it was all because of a lecture I gave to him one night that changed him into what he is to me today.

(Memory Retrieved)

"Lethal Ember Attack!" I ordered Fahrenheit.

Facing the solid plastic dummy targets, the small cyndaquil was erratically breathing from fatigue. His silk teal fur was covered in sweat as his normally cream underbelly was disguised in light brown from dirt as a result of today's hardcore training, but all he needs to do is use Ember on the target one last time and then it's over; he should know this routine by now. After facing the dummy for half a minute still panting, the vents on his back had shut closed as the fire dissipated. Before I could even interrogate what his motives were he slowly turned around and scolded at me in his native tongue. Yelling at me and pointing to the dummies told me that he wasn't happy about following my orders; an attitude I get every other week.

"Fahrenheit I'm getting really sick and tired of you disobeying me. All day you've been half assing my orders! Now you refuse to use an ember attack on a dummy?"

His response was an ember shot to my shirt but the little flame soon sparked into a blaze across my fabric! I yelled in shock then fell on the grass and began rolling around to put the fire out. At least he shot at low, stun intensity and not a lethal attack thankfully. I glared back at Fahrenheit to see him caged by Celsius foot and talons. The much smaller cyndaquil was struggling for air as I walked up beside him.

"Let him go Celsius and translate exactly word from word what he says to me." Celsius nodded withdrawing her foot. I kneeled down closer to Fahrenheit's level. "Why don't you listen to me? That's all I want to know. I mean you barely even follow my orders as my pokémon Fahrenheit."

"Why the hell should I listen to you? You don't own me," Celsius formally translated the words.

"No I don't own you. I was hoping that you would see me more as a friend instead of a human over the pokémon kind of thing."

"Does a friend constantly order me around? Does a friend train me to eventually die out in the field?"

"No…I'm not trying to get you killed! I'm trying to give you as much of my care as possible. Shit…I don't know how is to show the care I have for you being in my position! I took you in before the other harsher assassins did and watched over your condition since I first got you. The reason we have you trained is to help me through the mess I have gotten us into and to condition you so you don't get killed," I explained emphasizing "me" and "us" being Celsius and I, "I'm sorry if I've been treating you like property but I couldn't think of another solution. I've been stressed out too since the training sessions began, I understand how you feel. You know what Celsius and I went through way before we even came here, we've both told you our story, and once we're done with our job here, I know I will still treat you with the food, grooming, and care that you get right now."

"I was already trained to know the risks of running with these assassins. I already knew I was going to die here!"

"This is more than assassinations. With us you're going to end this family; our worst enemy, don't you get it? They killed our family and kept you in captive for two years." Running out of ways to tame the newly acquired pokémon I just gazed up at the horizon past the mountain peaks. The sunset was casting its vibrant colors over the sky creating a dark silhouette over the mountains. Their shadows began to slowly creep over all three of us meaning the training session of the day was close to an end. I sighed, "I'm going to let you know that you don't have to stay with me if you don't want to. If you do stay there's a good chance that you'll be killed, but that's what a loyal pokémon does for their trainer. If you don't want me as a trainer then that's fine. Asking a friend to die for another is just asking too much anyways. Not being loyal to me means you don't want to have respect for me, you don't trust me, and the worst part is you don't want to be my friend. Loyalty means respect, trust, and friendship in my words, and to be loyal to me means that you must devote your life to mine while I do the same for you. The problem is where ever I go shit happens. So are you going to learn how to be loyal, or are you going to leave and find a life of your own. The tree line is right there." The forest was close by so he could've ran off if he wanted to. Being dead serious I pulled out the enlarged pokéball that I was given and clenched it hard in front of his view letting him know I was ready to smash the hold that the ball had on him.

"I never trusted anyone that worked at this place. When you said these people took your family from you I thought you were joking. This entire time I've been here I have disobeyed some of your commands and lit you on fire. Yet now you are nicely asking me if I want to leave or stay?" I nodded to ensure my words giving him a few seconds to think. "Well…I don't know anymore. Damn it, I just thought that all of you assassins were going to be just like how Ron was. I'll give being loyal to you a real chance. You're my trainer and out of all the other grunts I think you're the most fairest person here. Besides, I want to kick some Mafia ass for what they've done to me. If I quit now, just like what M-4 and M-60 would say, I'll become a pussy running away from my problems, and your problems are also my problems if I am your pokémon. That's what loyalty is right?"

"That's exactly right Fahrenheit," I smirked. He smiled at me, and that was the first sincere smile he ever gave me three weeks after the training sessions started. He then turned back around lighting up his back in flames and gave the dummy a powerful ember attack setting the whole body ablaze.

(Memory Processed)

I never forced Fahrenheit or Celsius to stay with me. I absolutely made sure that they wanted me to be their trainer as we go through this form of hell. But it's almost over; once I pass this test I'll kill the Don as soon as he notices my loyalty to him.

This night's assassination training session wasn't that exhausting since it was all review, but it was still painful. Celsius, Fahrenheit, and I are now much stronger and smarter than when we first stepped in the mansion. The sun was setting to its opposite position of dawn. Dawn is the beginning of training while dusk is the end; which is from seven in the morning to seven at night located at these barracks far from the mansion. I have one helluva schedule, and I still have to train Celsius and Fahrenheit after my home schooling for two hours, leaving me only six hours of sleep; not very healthy for my age. But then again, everyone looks at me like I'm a teenager since I act and shockingly look almost like one, which freaks me out at times since it looks like I'm hitting puberty way too early and Livius keeps informing me that it's most likely the aura in me that's causing massive growth spurts which I never really want to hear about.

Well now I can't see the sun since the whole sky is blanketed in low dark clouds preparing to release precipitation. The last storm of the winter, then spring comes in on the month of my tenth birthday. It's dark and I still have to walk half a mile from the training camps back to the mansion. The other recruits ran to the mansion to avoid the rain, so it's only me outside right now with dozens of elite guards around the perimeter of the property. A deafening thunder clap alerted me that moisture was about to hit. I sighed as the first drop hit the tip of my nose.

Once I stepped out of the surrounding forest, the mansion was in view but still ways off. M-60, M-4, and Jewel were getting back from the armory in a separate house of the property nearby and noticed me. The trio is the only young beings around here that see me as a friend. The pair of assassins still had a goofy smile on their faces as always while Jewel obediently walked next to M-4.

"Yo Jon, how was training, it was a bitch huh?" M-4 held out a hand for me to greet as I joined on their walk back to the mansion.

"That shit sucked, it was all review. I'm just glad that it's over and done with," I responded.

"Yeah, you made it all this way, and still alive. Now all you gotta do is survive the test," M-60 added.

"How does the Don expect me to go through this test? I mean for me, why does he have the policy of 'if you fail you automatically die'?"

M-60 snickered, "If you survived training then you can handle a simple ass death match. He just wants to know who is the best assassin out of the kids."

"What about me and Alma? We're the youngest ones and he expects us to win? That's just easy kills for the others."

"For the last fuckin' time, if you survived the training than you can handle the death match," M-60 answered as we kept walking through the rain carrying firearms and ammunition.

"M-60 is the youngest of the assassins to pass the final assessment within Mafia 14, so you shouldn't have a reason to worry," Jewel added telepathically.

"But aren't you younger M-4 meaning you had to do a death match, and how did you ever pass without a pokémon at your side, M-60?" I questioned facing them both.

"Well, you know, I'm just a beast. The Mafia took me in and said, 'you know what you're so beast you're automatically an assassin'," M-4 smiled as I noticed Jewel shaking her head in embarrassment.

"Right…" I spoke knowing that sarcasm from him means he doesn't want to tell an ugly truth and just rather mask it with fake optimism.

"My pokémon was killed during the test. To put it short, he took his final stand to the guy last alive as I watched. It was cool but…don't really like handling more pokémon since they're gonna die anyway," M-60 answered.

"Yeah, because you can't train for shit," M-4 sneered.

I cringed from thinking about all the horrible possibilities that can happen on that day of the test. That survival test just brings chills down my spine; a death match against the recruits? Going up against people that know what I know; just that thought alone gets me trembling. What if the pokémon I decide to bring along gets murdered out there; oh Arceus I can't even imagine Celsius or Fahrenheit dying for my own causes... I don't know what I would do with myself. I can careless about the five assassin trainees. Alma is the only one I care for since we grew a great friendship over training unfortunately. We both know about each other's reason for why we're here. She has the same goal as I do, but how will we both live to accomplish it. We know what we have to do at the test and only one person can walk away alive.

"Hey Jon, think fast!" My head jumped up from M-60's obnoxious voice to see that he tossed a few packs of explosives at me.

"Oh shit-!" I panicked and yelled from getting tossed bricks of semtex but only caught one while I froze as the others hit the ground.

"Damn it man, you can't catch for shit! Hopefully you won't have to use your useless ass hand-eye coordination at the match."

"You dumbass, you fucking threw C4 at me!"

"It's alright I didn't put the spark pin in so it's okay, we're cool," he laughed. "I bet you're good at catching stuff with your mouth!" M-60 laugh while I slapped my head in embarrassment.

"I bet you would like to see that," M-4 came back.

"Arceus M-60, shut up and hurry up you perverted ass," I demanded. With that M-4 chuckled and picked up the rest of the explosives. The three of us got inside soaking wet. Are boots screeched across the shiny marble as we trekked through the large dining room, which annoyed the maids that had just polished the floor.

"You know it's not every day that you see a nine year old holding a gun, looking all buff and beasty," M-4 broke the silence as we walked up to the third level.

"Yeah? No shit," I responded knowing they didn't mind my attitude; they actually like it since in all honesty I got it from them.

"Dude, you look like us. And we're twelve so shit. It just looks weird," M-60 explained.

"I know it does, I can't believe it either, and Livius keeps telling me it's because of my aura."

"How the hell does he know that?" M-4 asked.

"Because he can see it in me being active, but he says it's not active enough to be controlled yet which to me doesn't make sense."

"None of that hunk of shit makes any sense…powers and shit, what are you a lucario in disguise?" concluded M-60.

We neared the door to my room on the third level.

"Get away from me!"

"Don't move bitch." I heard Fahrenheit yell out as we got closer to my room except the normal cyndaquil cries were different… But more importantly they're fighting again!

"Dialga, what the hell is going on in your room?" M-4 wondered.

Ignoring him I walked up to my door hearing more of Fahrenheit's yells. "I'm always tired of you treating me like crap! Well look whose boss now." I then heard Celsius scream in cold fear. She never screams in fright when she's fighting Fahrenheit!

"Shit!" I slammed the door stopping both of their next actions immediately. "Why the fuck do you two always-" I stopped mid sentence to see Fahrenheit pinning Celsius to the ground with his maw around her neck. Celsius couldn't do anything as she faced the ground. The reason why he wasn't losing this time was because he evolved into a Quilava! Fahrenheit evolved and he's actually defending himself from her; that's a first?

"Dude, Oh my-" M-60 spoke before busting out in hysterical laughter for no logical reason while M-4's eyes and mouth hung agape, "Whoa…"

"What the hell is so funny?" I scolded turning around to face them.

"Dude… Look dumb fuck!" M-4 pointed behind me.

"Fahrenheit how could you…"I heard Jewel trailed off.

I spun around to see Fahrenheit had jumped off of her and shut the new vents on his head and lower back. Celsius slowly got up blushing and teary eyed as she looked like she was embarrassed and ashamed of something.

"I…I need some air!" Fahrenheit panicked.

"Wait it's raining outside right now. You don't like water!" I called out.

"Who gives a shit!" I heard him yell in frustration while already down the hall.

"Dude no… no fuckin' way!" M-60 kept cutting off from uncontrollable laughter. "Jon," He gasped, "Celsius was getting f-," He trailed off from more laughing while holding his gut.

Before I let him finish though, I yelled at him because he wasn't solving the problem. "M-60 shut the fuck up! Get out, all of you!" I pushed him out of my room and watched M-4 and Jewel leave obediently before slamming the door shut. The volume of his laughter was fading as they walked off.

I looked at Celsius who was almost crying. "Okay, what the hell happened?"

"I don't know okay!" she yelled. "I'm sorry but I'm just really confused right now."

"Soak in the tub for a bit. That should calm you down," I suggested knowing from the first day we've arrived here that bathing seem to ironically get her in a better mood.

I set my titanium weapons case with the parts of the DSR-1 rifle inside my weapons locker. I grabbed two Seviper JAWS pistols out of the locker and tucked them in the two pistol holsters attached to my black waistband. I then inserted two clips for each in the magazine pockets for "just in case". After all, I'm trained to go through this routine as I'm required to wear the light weight body armor carry two handguns around the mansion just like every other assassin while I carry a full weapon set when I go on an assassin's assignment. I took off my trench coat and smart pants changing into some casual wear over each piece of my armor but not caring about what I chose out of the closet that was fully stocked from funds I get just for living here.

"I'm going to go talk to Fahrenheit. Maybe he knows what happened this time." Celsius didn't respond. "And we're gonna talk after my schooling." I then left the room.

After wondering around the large property of land, I finally found Fahrenheit walking aimlessly through the paths outside in the bad weather with his head draped in depression only recognizing him by the outline formed from the rain striking his fur. I got next to him and walked with him for a few minutes, waiting for him to break the silence.

"I'm tired of Celsius always treating me like I'm nothing. Ever since I was brought here she's always hated me. And I got tired of it." I wasn't quite used to his new evolved cries but I still understood him. He and I grew a quick bond that caused me to understand his every word just like Celsius. I don't know why that bond came quicker than Celsius's did though.

"Well I'm glad you finally stuck up to a 'bully'. Its okay, she's just…I guess she's not good with other pokémon that I train with. Since she's evolved sooner, and has been a part of me her whole life, she probably gets jealous, but things seem different now. What happened?"

"The fight we got into caused me to evolve. That was the turning point since I'm bigger than her if I stand on my hinds, plus I just felt more…aggressive. Now that I finally evolved she shouldn't boss me around anymore."

"True, maybe you two can finally make up now." Fahrenheit seemed to blush at my statement.

"Uh yeah about making up, you see… we fought because of a different reason."

"What?"

"Well… when a female is in heat males get uncontrollable urges and I lost control of myself."

"What?" I stopped looking down at him.

"She's in heat! And I almost mated with her, but you and your friends walked in on it. I had urges, urges that you won't understand until you get older. A byproduct of evolving is that my wild instincts take more control of me," he admitted.

"Ohhh, that's why you two were in that… yeah, and M-4 looked shocked while M-60 with his usual immaturity laughed his ass off!" Celsius is in a second evolution form. That means her heat intensifies but not enough for her to know that she is in heat. But Fahrenheit almost violated her. "Wait, you were going to rape her! What the hell!"

"I'm sorry, I had urges and sometimes males will lose control of that urge and force themselves into it… you don't understand yet, you're too young, hell I don't even know if you'll ever understand. I wasn't thinking and I was too angry because I wanted to pay her back for all the times she hurt me and… and…" His ears retracted in and his eyes moistened up. "I didn't know what to do for pay back and with the combination of all sorts of hormones-"

"It's okay, relax. Oh, and I understand alright, thanks to M-60's jokes." Actually I didn't understand enough to talk to him about. Right now I was slightly offended that he tried to rape Celsius. "I hope you won't do it again."

"Wait you're not going to punish me?"

"No! Just as long as you learned to never ever rape females of any kind, especially if she's in your own team. All I want you to do is to apologize to her and never try that shit again; I don't care how bad your 'urges' are! If your loyalty is strong then I can trust you."

"Damn it…I don't know if she'll ever forgive me for what I've done, I can't even forgive myself right now! At least I didn't penetrate her though thankfully."

"Penetrate? Whatever the hell that means. Look I just want you to apologize, you got to toughen up face her up and say you're sorry. Don't be so selfish because you're too scared to apologize. I'm sorry if that sounds harsh but that's how you learn, right."

"I have strong loyalty towards you sir. I know you're telling the truth. I'll try to apologize but…" He had his head down again now seeing a tear trickle down his slimmer muzzle. He sighed before speaking. "Thank you master for talking to me, I needed it. I really don't think it's possible for me to have had found a better trainer."

"No problem Fahrenheit." I smiled to show him I wasn't annoyed before leaving his presence.

The Study house is where recruited kids are educated if they aren't past the age of ten which is rare since there was only M-4, M-60, and one other assassin that had came here before ten years old. Required to go I stepped inside the book filled corridor. Books of all kinds were shelved neatly like a public library would be with a separate room for members of various groups to read, but most of the kids and teenagers here would prefer doing jobs for the Don than read including myself honestly; only adults are found here. Walking past the long aisle of books I stopped at a chocolate brown door. I slowly opened the door with a high pitched creaking noise to find Livius waiting and tapping his fingers on the desk with irritation.

"Sorry, one of my pokémon was having a little problem I had to fix." Livius should understand. Even though he didn't look friendly at first, he and I also became friends, well more of acquaintances, but he seems to value my company. I know he has some powers of aura, he's a direct descendent of an aura guardian, but not all of the powers that aura guardians would have were passed to him. All he can do is read people's minds and memories and of course detect aura. He can't fight, heal, communicate with pokémon, or see through objects like a guardian normally can do.

Livius ignored me as he gestured for me to sit in the one seat that was in the class-like room. I sat down and slid a text book out of a shelf and sat it down on my desk. The text book was labeled "Chemistry". Livius is the only teen found within this building since he devotes himself to learning new things.

"How are you doing today, Jonathan?" Livius spoke now buried in a novel.

"I'm tired as always, but I'm ready to get started."

Two hours in, I was doing a work sheet on Government and History. Every hour we transition into a different subject after learning and completing a lesson. It was dead silent as Livius was reading his novel. I was almost done with my work when Livius broke the silence.

"If you survive the death match and become an official assassin you will graduate your sophomore year," he spoke while flipping a page of his book.

"Finally, but I still have junior and senior courses."

"Yes, but consider yourself lucky. The Don hires licensed teachers to teach me to teach you. Since I only have to teach one person, you can learn all of the six subjects' lessons in three hours perfectly, and instead of nine months of school you only have six. That means you'll get a 'legal' degree once you turn ten."

"So, that doesn't mean I can get into college."

"You can, you were taught by teachers of the schooling district," I brought my head up from his statement, "But you're right, you're not going to a university, even though you are college material. You don't need to go. We only teach you because some of the material here reflects the things you learn out there in the field. Chemistry, politics, physics are just some of the subjects that reflect what you are trained to do. With chemistry you'll learn why that bomb goes off. With physics you can calculate the trajectory of a sniper bullet. And in biology you learn how fire type pokémon stay alive. How do fire types stay alive?"

I sighed from him bringing my hopes up before breaking the foundation, "Small natural fission reactors in each chamber of the heart which use specialized carbon atoms and hydrogen atoms found in the blood to split creating nuclear chain reactions which is why fire types are always hot internally and externally, but if they become too wet then the water kills the hydrogen and carbon cells in the body overtime causing the heart to stop, so their hearts are like nuclear power plants. Most are resistant to extreme heat, all are resistant to radiation."

"Excellent, now finish your work," he said before getting back to reading.

I growled knowing that going to college is impossible for me, even if I kill the Don I doubt I can walk out of this mansion alive; I knew that from my first step into the property. I got back to work. I had a near migraine from exhaustion that was mostly in vain.

"Now that I think about it, you survived the vigorous training within the past eight months even though you're so young; unlike the oldest trainee. You're fortunate to be given your size for your age, fairly nearly as tall and lengthy as M-4 and he's not only a couple years older than you but big for his age too."

"Yeah, I'm glad Blake is gone or else it would've just been more competition."

"If only he just followed orders and obeyed the code without question he would still be alive."

I nodded then got back to work after I noticed that I was wasting time even though it was Livius' fault. After I was done with the final subject I gave it to Livius who then graded the work and then left once he approved my assignments. Knowing that he would stay and read I left the building. That's all he does anyways if he's not helping his uncle. He reads to fuel his knowledge. After all, he's the second brain of this entire organization. The rain finally stopped as I walked through the back lands of the property. I was about to enter the warmth and comfort of the mansion until I spotted Fahrenheit lying in the bar area near the pool and using the roof for shelter. I walked up to him to find his head dug deep in between his forearms.

"Why are you still out here Fahrenheit?"

"Because… I'm just too fucking ashamed of myself to look her in the eyes. After I realized what I was about to do to her, I felt so much shame and guilt." His eyes were bloodshot as he dug his face back under his arms.

"Head up Fahrenheit," I commanded, "You are going to have to do something about it or else you'll just have to stay out here away from Celsius."

"That's fine. I was planning on doing that."

"What the- get your ass inside," I ordered him, "Face up to your punishment which can have a potential reward."

As we finally walked up the stairs inside, Fahrenheit was breathing frantically. He didn't know what to expect once he steps into my room.

"Congratulations by the way! You evolved! Now you're bigger and stronger than a cyndaquil."

"Thanks." He was still panicking though.

Alma was walking down the stairs as we walked up. It didn't take her long to notice us. "Hey Jon, finally done with classes huh?" she asked casually.

Fahrenheit and I stopped so I could simply reply, "Yeah, finally."

"So then you're too tired to hang out?" she continued but with a gloomy expression.

"Yeah, sorry, it's just I'm too tired to do anything right now. Training today sucked and class was boring as hell."

"I'm sorry to hear that, well I hope you feel better by tomorrow. It is Valentine's Day if you forgot and I really don't have anyone to spend time with tomorrow. We can do something different other than train," she smiled.

"Maybe, if I have any energy for tomorrow but I'll try," I responded trying to smile but I was too tired to even stay fully composed let alone force a dozen face muscles to flex.

"Hey maybe you can spend Valentine's Day with me tomorrow! If he don't want to spend time with you then why bother with someone whose balls haven't dropped," More like a joke, this came from one of the recruits, Alec.

"Fuck off, pervert!" Alma retorted. I wanted to say something too but then again why bother. Alec walked away while laughing to himself.

"Listen, I'm going to bed right now. I had a long day." I yawned to prove it.

"Oh ok, I'll see you tomorrow then I hope." With a wave she walked down the rest of the stairs while I walked up. I felt a little hurt that I've been disappointing her lately not being able to hang out as friends, especially on our final weeks too.

I finally reached the door and stepped inside while Fahrenheit slowly stepped in. What we found made Fahrenheit feel even worse than before. Celsius was still in the tub with her legs folded up to her chest and her face dug in between them creating a very discouraging atmosphere. I knew I couldn't do anything about it, it was up to Fahrenheit. He looked directly at me with a hesitant look. I nodded to boost his confidence as I fell on the bed and closed my eyes.

"Celsius?" His cry was very insecure from where I heard. "I'm… I'm… Oh Arceus. I know… it's not going to change anything, but… I'm so sorry Celsius. Please… I'm sorry. I didn't know what came over me. I lost control and-"

"Heh," she snickered, "It should be me that's supposed to apologize. The pokémon that I am that just jumps directly to conclusions…" She sniffled as she raised her head. "I should be the one that's sorry, for always treating you so wrong. I treated my very own teammate like trash and that's violating a rule of loyalty. I'm sorry for always putting your hopes down, hurting you, making you depressed, and every other bad thing that I have done to you. I just… I honestly saw you as weak little thing…but I was wrong."

"Celsius…" Fahrenheit was shocked while I still kept my eyes shut but still slipping in a few peeks. I was actually shocked too. Finally Celsius opens up. "I still shouldn't have done that to you." I heard tapping noises as Fahrenheit was walking up to the tub. He began whispering something in her ear but it was too quiet for me to hear.

**(POV)**

"I know Rayn is very important to you; you love him. I can't do anything about that when it comes to my own trainer. I also don't want you to feel jealous that he's just trying to level me up. I'll let him know that he should concentrate on you now."

"Thank you Fahrenheit. That does mean a lot to me."

"No problem, I know you only like him and no one else, I won't bother you anymore."

"But…Thank you. I really appreciate how you understand, and I'm sure that you'll find someone else, I know you will."

"Yeah, hopefully, and I know you'll get him."

**(POV)**

One week had passed since the last official assassination exercise was over. Tonight is the heart racing event that decides which of us will be the next assassin of Mafia 14. All I have to do is remember everything that I was taught by the instructing assassins. M-80 who was the drill sergeant that made all of us stronger, M3T who taught us close combat, M-24 that taught survival, M-9 on stealth which is the most important element, M-4 on traps, M-60 on environmental weapons and adaptation, M-202 on the rules and codes of Mafia 14, MP-5 on weapons and computer networking technology, and M-99 on pokémon partnership training and marksmanship; I was the best recruit when it came to instructor M-99.

I looked out the smudgy window of our transportation as my stomach kept turning from the endless thoughts I dreaded about. I sat in my seat looking stoic being good at hiding my emotions but really each time I review a technique I learned I tremble from the thought of screwing up and dying because of it.

All six of us are in a C-130 Hercules flying above the ocean towards our destination in the clear, clam night. It tore through the atmosphere and the captain stated in the intercom that we were at flight level one-twenty, or 12,000 feet above sea level. Flood lights highlighted the interior bright red. On the ceiling of the interior were a mess of wires that ran through the length of the cabin connecting hydraulics, electricity, air circulation, and fuel lines which positively distracted me by keeping me intrigued. The inner metal skeleton served as a weapons rack for our weapons that we'll be using as well as our instructor's weapon set which consisted of a PKM Machine Gun, a SMAW Rocket Launcher, his many explosives, and his two long combat machetes.

All the recruits were trying to stare each other down. Each of us wore the very body armor designed by my dad that covered all of our limbs only exposing our hands, feet, and head with suits over and a long jet black colored trench coat on top with a purple collar showing who we worked for; I honestly didn't know why we're required to wear a trench coat when we have to sneak in buildings by using bizarre methods. The coat just gets in the way, and it's not that great in concealing a giant rifle so what's the point?

I didn't like any of these fuckers and the feeling was mutual, but there was only one person that I saw as a friend and she saw me as a friend too. Alma didn't give me any dirty looks. Instead, like we were ordered to do, we stayed silent as we looked at each other. We couldn't show our friend ship since this event will end with only one person alive, but we both know that we're friends and will be till death do us part. Normally after training we would hang out, but until recently I've been getting tired after training and I think it's because of the thought that I have to kill her to complete my goal. I couldn't even hang around her on Valentine's Day I was too tired and lost my will to be around her. She's not the cause of that though; I just don't want to be greatly affected when she dies. She sees me as the only guy to not harass her since I'm not even old enough to know how to honestly. Even though her goal is the same as mine only one of us can live. She's been worried about that fact. One of us has to die, and I've already made up my mind days ago that it can't be me. I just have to push these thoughts away and complete my goal no matter how intimidating it is.

"Okay, we have reached the battle field!" M-80 yelled, "Status?"

"Altitude is low for stable pressure! Visibility is 50 miles!" one of the crewmen on board called out as the giant cargo door on the back of the cabin was retracting.

Why is the pilot opening the tailgate? Through the opening I saw a dense forest in the distance waiting for blood to be spilled on its soil. M-80 signaled for each of us to stand up. The wind draft was tugging me towards the exit but I kept my footing.

"Here's what's gonna happen! Each of you will have a different diving spot located around Southern Island! Yeah, you guys are free to go anywhere since it has approximately, oh I don't know, 1,150 square miles of land since it's almost a perfect circle shaped island measuring around thirty-eight miles in diameter, but you have to land at your assigned spots first and complete your first objective. Anyways, you must get in the actual battle field by passing a stronghold filled with our grunts that will be assigned to you upon landing, but don't worry because these grunts don't even know that you're even there; huge fucking advantage! They just think that they have to guard things like weapons and money, so it's a good simulation. The objective is simple: get into the actual battle field alive. If you fail well… that's a given. Use any means necessary! Each strong hold is posted all over the Island that surrounds the battle field. Do whatever you can to get in. Kill, stun, or sneak past the grunts; I don't care! Does everyone got that?"

"Yes sir!" We all declared simultaneously.

"Alma, you're up!"

Shit, her first! Alma walked up to M-80 as he prepared the needed supplies for her. He handed her a sky diving jump suit, parachute, M-16A2 assault rifle, and a backpack full of survival and stealth gear. She slipped on the black clothing and backpack and fastened the parachute and rifle tightly to her back. She double checked to see if her poke ball was fastened to her waistband. Then surprisingly, she walked over to me and hugged me affectionately! I hesitated a little, but I hugged back since this may be the last time we see each other. We stayed silent as we still held on to each other. The vigorous flight of uneasy emotions in me right now was too much for me. Feelings developed from the thought of never seeing a trusted friend alive again and knowing how she died made me hold her tight and I didn't want to let go. I couldn't help but regret things that I shouldn't even be regretting in the first place.

"ETA to drop off is 20 seconds! Hurry up, fucking love birds!"

I broke the hug since it would be best to not draw attention but I quickly felt sick once I stepped back. I have a goal, but I have a friend, a good human being that I can't just let go of. I blinked hard trying so very hard not to cry. Arceus, that hug did felt like a different feeling. I know I'm going to miss her, but I can't get too attached to her now. Tears were being forced down her face by the draft as she walked to the tip of the tailgate. Her outline from the moon light was straightening as she stretched for the jump. After preparing herself for the rapid decent, she disappeared from sight.

Only one minute had passed since Alma jumped off the plane. "Jonathan, you're up!"

I approached him as he prepared the required supplies. I slipped on the parachute, strapped the M16 to my back, slipped a small ear piece into my ear, and checked to see if Fahrenheit was still in my poke ball.

M-80 began whispering orders in my ear. "Listen, you will be directed to a spot where the stronghold will be in your sight. Your objective is a large water purification facility with grunts inside and out. Command will be watching your every move from a yacht off the coast and Intel will be uploaded to you on a constant basis to guide you to your exit alive. They'll direct you and post news when needed. The Don, Garand, Livius, and a few assassins will be watching too." I nodded to all of the instructions. "Good luck out there."

"Shit, after what I've been through I don't believe in luck," I blankly stated.

"That's what I like about your confidence."

I walked towards the exit of the aircraft. I shook off all of the anxious feelings. Looking down just caused me to become even tenser, but I fought it and jumped off the door. Parachuting was taught by MP-5 and normally we jump off of helicopters in normal operations at lower altitudes. I went into a freefall keeping my eye on the wrist altimeter and tried to remember everything MP-5 said. My altimeter reached 3,500 feet. I pulled on the latch releasing a purple ram air paraglide from one of the back packs. It caught the air as I instantly slowed down to a glide.

"Jonathan, this is Command from Sea," guidance called through the small ear piece I was given.

"Go ahead Command," I replied.

"Your touchdown spot is located at your one 'o clock. Turn one-five degrees to your right and slow your decent rate."

"Roger, turning right one-five degrees."

I pulled down the right handle of the parachute to yaw as a lifted my legs up to slow my decent. I kept my legs up for another four minutes.

"Slightly quicken decent rate. There should be a very small clearing ahead of you."

I looked further ahead until I did see a small circle cut into the forest. "I have the clearing in sight."

With that, I guided myself to touchdown. It wasn't long before I passed the forest line and was only 20 feet above the ground. Once my toes began clipping the grass, I tucked my body and prepared to roll forward. After the roll absorb the impact, I got up and took off the jump suit and paraglide, and made sure that my other back pack was secured with my rifle.

"For now on, communications from you is terminated. Only Command is allowed to talk on the COM. We will relay you any guidance when needed."

The vegetation around my footing was only grass, but a short distance away, the trees lined around me as they towered over 50 to a 100 feet. Bug pokémon can be heard in the forest and flying pokémon was seen in the branches either sleeping or staring at my presence. I pulled out the poke ball then threw it up in an underhand throw with my palm facing down as I flicked my forearm letting go at the plateau of the swing.

While mid air, the ball ruptured open letting out a white form of the Quilava on the ground. The ball flew back into my palm and in a few seconds, Fahrenheit was visible.

"Ready, Fahrenheit? This is where all that training comes down to. Now the risks I always talked about are real. This is an actual mission."

"I'm aware sir. I'm ready for any threat. Now let's kick some mafia ass!"

I had to smirk from his positive energy. "Good, stay next to me at all times and don't engage until an enemy comes within range of your swift attack or flame wheel. Only take on a distant enemy if I command you to. You are to engage all enemy pokémon you see, distant or in range. All of your attacks are to be lethal."

"Yes sir!"

Fahrenheit is almost perfect for this kind of task. Fahrenheit can use some experience, plus he's smaller than Celsius while on all fours so stealth should be much effective, and he serves as an all purpose pokémon that can use attacks with a fair amount of range. I would've brought them both, but for the test we could only bring one pokémon.

"The facility is in your direct heading. Proceed forward and it will be within your sights," Command ordered.

I approached the forest with Fahrenheit next to me. Now walking through the vegetation I noticed a gun on the ground. It was a pistol and with further observation I recognized it as a Beretta 92, commonly known as the M9, with a muzzle sound suppressor attached.

"Good, you found your first firearm. Throughout the island are more weapons; some of good use and some disappointing. Keep an eye out for the ones that catch your interest."

Ignoring how these guys knew I found the gun the instant I picked it up, I slipped it into my right holster and placed the two magazines that were found with it into the ammo pockets. We kept on walking until I stumbled upon the peak of a small hill. Down the incline was what I was looking for.

Ahead was a large metal complex with a small river flowing through it. The back of the large massive building was against a higher, steeper cliff that towered over the whole structure. Going down the hill would lead to a large gate. A small truck was entering right now. I couldn't sneak in through the front because I would get caught in all the light. I walked around the valley until I found a chance of entering. In front of me was an electric pole with a few wires connecting to the structure. I took out a binocular that was more than just two telescopes put together and zoomed in on where the cords met at the complex. Next to the cords on the other side was an air vent large enough for me to fit through.

Now next to the pole in front of me was another pole thin enough for me to climb up. I used the strength and technique from M-80's training to climb up the thinner pole with Fahrenheit on my head. Once I got high enough to jump on the platform of the larger pole, I pushed myself off and softly landed on the very small, metallic stand. My landing elicited a noise which caught attention of a nearby patrol guard who happened to have just appeared. I looked and saw him drawing out a rifle as he slowly approached the pole. I quickly hid from his view with Fahrenheit still poised on my head and shoulders. I fortunately spotted a Taillow perched on top of a branch on a nearby tree as I was prone. I quickly took out a piece of food and set it near the edge of the platform; a technique taught by M-24. The taillow swooped from the branch and onto the platform causing a similar noise that I made.

"Oh, just another freakin' taillow." The guard then continued his patrol.

Setting my bag down I took out a rifle designed with the specific purpose of getting people across long distanced gaps. After judging the distance, wind, and even the temperature around me I fired the rifle at an angle resulting in a large barb with a line following behind. The barb penetrated the concrete material next to the air vent. I detached the receiver of the gun and tied the connected piece securely high around the pole giving me a high zip line. I pulled out the wheels and a handle and assembled it to the cord in a few seconds.

Getting a firm grip of the handle as Fahrenheit gripped my head I tucked my legs in beginning to ride through the cord to the building. My coat kept on flailing with the wind as I flew, but to represent the family, assassins must where a black trench coat during an operation no matter how much the fabric can get in the way. Fahrenheit was still on my head as I made contact with the wall and reached for the grated door. Fahrenheit slipped into the vent, and then I slipped in my back pack full of the supplies I needed, and last was me to enter.

We crawled inside for a minute until we saw an opening in front of us. Both of my pokémon knowing the stealth routines taught by M-9, Fahrenheit peeked through the hole to spot any guards. After he had confirmed that there weren't any sentries, he jumped out. I pushed my bag out then I got out just seeing metallic walls on all sides. We were at the end of a long hallway leading to an intersection, but it was too dark for me to see the end. I took out a goggle head piece that had three lenses which one was for Night Vision, which showed all objects in green shading; the brighter the room the brighter the color will turn out. Thermal Sensor and an Electric Pulse Sensor, which showed all other objects in blue except electrical appliances which came out white through the goggles were the other two features. I slipped on the head piece to see in the dark.

"Your destination is now imputed into your Electronic Navigational Aid."

The navigation aid was hooked to my left forearm armor. Pulling the left limb up showed the screen of the ENA and the keyboard connecting to it that spanned down my forearm being strapped to the inside of my arm. It's a newly developed military GPS device being extremely expensive teeming with tactical features used for soldiers in the frontlines of war; well it will be in a few years, and thanks to the clever positioning of this devise I can keep a view of the screen as I hold a firearm. This can let Command update important points, threats, locations, and hallways of buildings throughout the map on the screen using inferred waves emitted by the device and satellites that the mafia somehow had control of. The range of this device spans for a couple of miles but I kept it fixed on this building showing a flyer's eye view outline of each hallway like a digital maze. A line was drawn through the hallways on the screen that led to my objective. I followed the yellow dot on my screen that represented me. Every turn had a guard, labeled with a red dot on the ENA so I knew they were there from their body heat, but I would create a distraction like throwing an object next to them, walk up to them while they were distracted, kill them since they're part of the mafia, and then take their weapons and ammo if they had any. Each guard was commissioned a FAMAS G2 which I decided to equip as a secondary weapon. I placed it next to my M16 on my back then kept moving. All clips were placed in pockets on my back and front torso, and luckily the FAMAS magazines are compatible with the M16's.

I went up to a door that had a lot of noise behind it then drilled a small hole into the thick metal plate. I quickly slipped in a small bendable wired camera through the hole to see what was inside. According to the ENA, there's a very large room on the other side of the door with multiple levels, and this room is the part of the building that's rested against the cliff. I looked through the camera and saw a small walkway over a canal and a rising stairwell next to it. People walked directly pass the door only a foot away from the switch. I switched the goggles to Heat Sensor, and more guards were sighted on the stairwell leading to the upper levels and walkways. The room is bright around the bridge so I have to stay against the corners. Damn, the ENA couldn't sense the body heat coming from those guards since we're in different rooms.

I switched the door and slowly slid it open when the men were out of sight. Luckily, the water purifying systems were so noisy that I could just run in the room without getting any attention.

"To exit the chamber you must make your way up the stairs where the control room is. In the room is a hall way leading to the correct exit. You need hand print access to get that exit open, and the only person that the scanner will read is the manager of the plant; find him."

I switched my goggles to EPS and saw bright white shades on part of the highest level meaning that's where the strongest electrical appliances were which should be in the control room. Behind me was a pipe that extended all the way to the ceiling. I decided to climb up and jump onto the platform above instead of taking the stairs where I could be seen easily. I reached the first level where a ladder nearby went up the rest of the way. I got off the ladder upon reaching the fourth level over the canal. Only two grunts were up here and they both had their rifles drawn. I took out my silenced pistol and aimed it at the men. I waited for a one-shot-two-kill opportunity. When the men crossed each other, I aimed precisely and carefully at the closest head. I then pulled the trigger of the gun only causing a small sound as loud as fingers snapping, but that didn't deter the bullet from penetrating the first head and then the other in one shot. Both collapsed almost in chorus but the thud was blocked off by the large generators at the bottom of the chamber. I made my way to the control room. Rows of florescent lights lit the room as only a door and a long glass window shielded off the sound to the one person inside. His back was facing me as he was on one of the monitors controlling the facility. If he's the manager then I need his hand.

I slammed the door open instantly causing the man to jolt in his chair. He was only a foot away from me and Fahrenheit. When he was drawing out his gun, I blocked his elbow causing his fore arm to keep pivoting upwards, aiming directly at the ceiling. I then grabbed the gun and smacked it against his face while he still gripped the handle. Then he released the gun, so now I had the pistol in hand. Before I could take a knife out from a pocket on either one of my triceps razor sharp stars began tearing the manager apart. The yellow stars dug deep into his face, arms, and chest as blood gushed shooting all over Fahrenheit and I. The manager gagged as a star cut its way through his mouth to the back of his throat, then a star gouged out his right eye leaving a stomach churning wound with purple black flesh swelling up in his eye socket. After Fahrenheit's lethal Swift Attack the manager's arm fell off with a sickening snap with blood caked flesh all over his chest. The stars eventually disappeared in thin air causing more blood to gush out on the glass and computers.

"Nice Swift Attack, Fahrenheit!" I hardly spoke from being overwhelmed by never seeing him attack a person before and how effective he can be. "So I need his hand to pass the door." I reached with my right hand over to my left tricep grabbing a handle and pulling down drawing out a knife. "Sorry, but I'm going to need a hand with the door, so…" I began slicing through the wrist as blood started shooting at my face and around the control switches. I almost lost my lunch as I held the severed hand and tucked it between my waistband and smart pants.

We walked back outside and noticed part of the platform was colored red instead of gray. "Shit, it's the blood on the window!" I exclaimed. The blood covered the glass causing the platform outside the room to be colored crimson from the light penetrating through the blood.

"What the-" I heard someone yell. All of a sudden, a storm of metal fragments began flying from my right as a guard had just spotted me.

I felt forceful impacts on my armor as I kept my head covered with one arm while shooting my M9 with the other. If this keeps up then the light but hard substance will melt and the bullets will penetrate through, but I kept shielding Fahrenheit as we ran behind cover.

"Warning: Pane temperature rising," a programmed monotone voice warned from my armor. That's the warning for me to get behind cover and regenerate my armor fast!

**(POV)**

"Jake, continue down the set of stairs for another three levels."

The commanders had switched from Rayn to a different assassin just as he had made it into the control room. I left the surveillance room feeling the urge to get a glimpse of Southern Island. Through the large window panels of the yacht was the giant rock that Master and Fahrenheit were on; what a formidable sight. Beyond the jagged rocks lining up the high rising cliff that enclosed the forest was a thousand different ways for them to die... I leaned my head against the window feeling highly uneasy and stressed from the thought but too hopeless for an escape.

"Celsius?" I heard Jewel ask finding her taking a seat next to me.

"This seems so unfair…" I merely spoke still staring down.

"Yes, I know. But you mustn't think about your masters' safety. It's-"

"Don't tell me what I can't think! He and Fahrenheit are in a live-or-die crisis! They have to fight the other assassins on that island and be the last one alive! What if he's walking then got sniped without warning, huh? What if Fahrenheit gets killed?"

"Thinking with that level of pessimism is not what you're supposed to do when you're trainer is on an assignment. You have to mentally support him when you're not aiding. That's all you can do instead of worry about chanced outcomes."

I glared at her not just because she was absolutely right but also because it's really hard to stay positive when seven different assassins are out to kill someone important to me. "It's not as easy as you make it sound. I can't stand the many chances of him dying."

"So, you don't believe that he's the best? You love him yet you don't have a single ember of faith in him!" she interrogated.

"That's not true, and just because you're a psychic doesn't mean you know everything about him or me! Y-you're basically saying I don't even believe in him right now!" I yelled nearly getting upset.

"That's exactly what I'm saying. You keep imagining these what-ifs. All of those what-ifs revolve around how he's going to die, so you do not even believe in him right now, and you need to get convinced that he'll make it.

"But he's still just a boy! How much can they ask of him?"

Only someone with an insane head like the Don would let Master and Fahrenheit do this! It just sounds so impossible for someone like him his age to survive out there. Not even Jewel, a pokémon I can trust, can help me out; how can she stay so calm about these things! I went back into the security room to see if Rayn and Fahrenheit were still okay.

"I'm detecting disruptions from Jonathan's armor!" One commander was looking at a color coded panel that revealed the status of all the recruits armor before he immediately switched all the monitors in the command center back to Rayn. "Jonathan, the door is in the hallway to your right. Use the hand to bypass it now!" the person yelled in panic as everyone rushed around the large room trying to guide him through the purifier room.

That's when I had lost control of my emotions. I broke down against the wall in tear stricken agony from the thought of losing my love fearing the worst.

**(POV)**

Bullets ripped through the air above my only cover being a large metal box. The deafening alarm system echoed off as red strobe lights enlightened the room alerting the whole facility to my location. The wound in my right tricep was burning intensely as I kept on applying pressure and focusing on the fight while Fahrenheit used swift and ember to keep the grunts at a distance. Fahrenheit was concentrating on covering me with his Swift Attack which successfully immobilized some of the guards one painful way or another. His flames on his back were erupting high from his frustration. I frantically reached for a grenade that was clipped to my vest pulling the pin and then rolling it at a group of five guards. A deafening explosion resulted as I looked up to see men flying into the canal, flesh and gore smacking against the wall, and heavily mutilated men on the ground.

Fahrenheit and I then bolted passed the area of the explosion that completely blackened the ground in residue, passing body parts, and making it around a corner and into a small hallway. The hand print panel was located next to the door that I had to pass through. I reached for the severed hand and pressed it down on the pane but it wouldn't read. The sounds of adrenaline rushing guards yelling levels below constantly piled pressure.

"Fuck! Hold still Fahrenheit." I pressed the hand against the quilava's hot back giving it some heat.

"Aaaah what the fuck!" Fahrenheit jumped.

I then pressed the hand against the blue panel seeing the LCD screen light up upon the touch. The screen then read "Enter Key Code."

"Arceus damn it; this is going to take a while!" I took out a few claymore trip wire mines and handed a pack full of them to Fahrenheit. "Okay, you remember how to arm these?" He nodded. "Set one next to the wall around the corner behind us, then one at the edge of the platform next to the railing over the canal, and one next to the stairs and arm them all using a trip wire linked to the first mine at the corner behind us, so if the guards pass the last mine then the whole circuit blows up," I quickly ordered. That trap I learned by M-4 should kill an attack patrol.

He ran out there dragging the pack to set them while I took out a keypad hacking tool. I pulled off the cover of the keypad and inserted a cord into the mother board which connected to the hand held hacker; a technique taught by MP-5. The screen on my device found over twenty possible results! I inputted one of the results. "4 attempts left. 3 out of 5 characters in correct order" was imputed on the screen. I tried a different one. "3 attempts left. 4 out of 5 characters in correct order." All I have to do is trial and error until I match the right letters together but can only do it a few times before the firewall permanently kicks me out. I tried again. "Access Granted."

"Rayn, they're coming!"

Fahrenheit got next to me as I switched the door open. When I opened it, three explosions rocked the chamber as the mines were tripped. I heard screeching metal failing and tons of collisions and ruckus as the staircase collapsed down into the water below. We ran into the room closing the door shut. Looking at the mechanical door we just went through, pieces of metal slid and then a thick pin locked in place of where the knob should be as the door had locked itself through both sides. Turning around, down the dark hallway was an even bigger door fully armored that had a huge safe like wheel on it.

"Through that door, Jonathan, is the forest battlefield. Passing it is passing the first objective. Once you exit the door get some rest."

The metallic wheel then began rotating as the door slowly slid backwards. Then it started sliding to the side as the wilderness was being revealed. The eerie crash of loud sliding metal by the door could be heard from deep within the forest. Slowly walking outside, the peaceful sounds of the wild entered our ears. Then the door slid back into place permanently locking us outside. Looking back at the door I actually saw the ocean and the yacht far into the distance as I stood close to the edge. Below me was the Water Purifier and tower that rested against the cliff that I made my way through.

I set my bag down and started assembling a tent. Fahrenheit pulled out the sleeping bag and pulled it into the tent where I began healing my wound. Instead of using the same painful method that Juggernaut's Ditto used, I used another painful method but not as bad by pouring a very acidic disinfectant on the wound. I cringed wildly in pain as the liquid remarkably melted the metal fragment and killed all bacteria inside without melting my arm off; a great invention but unfortunately by Team Rocket. After that ordeal I bandaged up my arm and collapsed on the sleeping bag. Fahrenheit was looking at me with worry.

"I'll be fine," I smiled for reassurance before closing my eyes losing consciousness shortly.

**(POV)**

"Jonathan has just passed his assigned stronghold. That only leaves Alma at the bridge above the waterfall and Jamal at the Power Plant," Garand told the Don as I was listening in.

"Your master made it through," Jewel spoke.

Command switched the screen to Rayn's Armor status. "Status: Asleep and heeling from a gunshot wound to the arm. Records: Sparked an alarm once he was spotted outside the control room. Men killed: 19 of the 49 patrolling the area. Weapons used: combat knife, M9, FAMAS, a grenade, and three claymores. Pokémon status: sleeping. Men killed: seven of the 49 men. Total kills: 26 men."

I stared back out the window after hearing his results. The only thing that I could've possibly processed in my head was the sheer worry I had. So many things can happen to him out there it was just impossible for me to hope for the best.

**(POV)**

I stirred then jolted awake upon hearing the loudest, most irritating, earsplitting sound in my head phone. The sun rays pierced my eyes through the small crack in my tent as it was only barely rising above the horizon. A deafening siren sounded through my head phone, so I ripped it out of my ear holding it at a distance to still listen in.

"All assassins proceed to your starting points! I repeat, head to your starting points of the battlefield-Give me that," I heard some clamoring in the background before the message continued with another announcer, "You have sixteen minutes or you're disqualified, hunted down by our professional hitmen, and then fucked by a barrage of bullets. Points will be marked in the ENA, be there!" The message finished off with M-80 speaking before repeating again.

After I stored all of my camping supplies away, Fahrenheit and I jogged to our point. My destination is only a mile from our camp site luckily. The wound had healed over night into a scar under the bandages. We trudged our way through the thick vegetation waking and scaring a few pokémon in the process.

"This is it Fahrenheit. Stay close at all times until I tell you to engage the enemy. Watch for traps along the way," I ordered pushing another branch out of the way. "This is a death match. No room for mistakes, and we have to be the last one standing."

"Y…yes sir!" his Quilava crying tone was trembling.

"Don't worry. Just stay next to me and duplicate my actions. No one will try to shoot you unless you try to attack. If you see their pokémon then engage."

The point on my ENA began blinking rapidly as we were only one-hundred-fifty yards away. As we came within a few yards of the point, I saw that the location is like my previous surroundings so I settled down against a tree trunk.

"For now on Jonathan, we can't help you. We can only send updates throughout the whole COM for everyone to hear."

I made sure my M16 and FAMAS were locked and loaded with the magazines secured to my armor. Only two grenades remained as I also had a pistol with the silencer off and two more clips remaining for it. I hope I find a more suitable weapon somewhere on the ground soon. Fahrenheit was taking deep breaths while warming up. The time remaining is two minutes so we sat down for the remainder of the time mentally preparing ourselves for the match of our lives.

**(POV)**

"One minute and thirty-five seconds remaining Don Sir." A large projection screen hung in front of a window panel of the yacht showing the time limit counting down as the screen was divided into six separate sections. All of those sections were one of the thousands of cameras within the forest being angled at the six recruits. The cameras would switch to a closer one once the person got too far. How did the Don afford to get this system installed all over the whole forest is only a rhetorical question. Everyone was in the auditorium of the Yacht. The Don, Garand, and Livius were seated in high chairs as all of the assassins were seated in smaller chairs but as equally luxurious in front of the Don. I sat on the ground next to Jewel who sat next to M-4 who was on a chair next to M-60. I couldn't help but grip the arm rest of M-4's chair from the worrying tension. The timer was almost done, and I could see Rayn and Fahrenheit preparing for the battle. My heart pounded with enough force it felt like it would shatter my rib cage. I would rather be nervous out there than in here. They could die! Would I ever see Rayn alive again? Would I ever be able to confess to him about my true feelings? Would I ever stand alongside Fahrenheit again? These questions ran in my mind over and over again.

"Relax, they'll be fine," Jewel spoke.

"I don't know what I'll do if he dies..." I looked back at the screen as the timer reached zero.

**(POV)**

Fahrenheit began talking to himself as I polished the barrel of my M16.

"I'm going to live. I'm going to stay alive. I will get off this Island with Rayn. I can't die yet. I still haven't even told Celsius. Yet I don't even know if she feels the same way about me. All I know is her heart is fixed on someone else. What if she's not worried about me right now? What if right now she doesn't even care if I live or die? Arceus, I just want to tell you that I love you right now 'cause I may never get the chance! What if I can't see you again?"

"You're part of the team. She's probably worried sick about the both of us." I tried to keep the possible dangerous situations I would come across out of my mind as I polished my guns and kept Fahrenheit in check.

"Yeah, but it's just for our team that's why. What if on a personal sense she doesn't care? Do you think she likes… never mind."

"I don't know Fahrenheit, I just don't know," I sighed as I shoved a magazine into my FAMAS and strapped it to my back. The M16 was next to it while the M9 was concealed in a waist holster pocket, and my knives were in the pockets on my upper sleeves ready to be drawn in an instant.

"It's okay. Just have to get these thoughts out and actually get my head in the Arceus damn battle!" Fahrenheit yelled.

**(POV)**

"Don Sir, are you ready to commence the 'Final Test'?" one of the commanders asked.

"Yes, broadcast the expectations."

"This is it Don. We shall see who the real assassin is." Garand was smiling from the excitement.

"Yes, we have a unique set of recruits this year. Who will come out alive I wonder?"

"I have no doubt for Jonathan. I think he'll succeed."

"You think so? I believe Keith will come out alive," The Don said.

"A wager it is then." I saw the two shake on it before Garand rose to his feet. "Everyone, get seated. The assessment will begin shortly."

I began violently trembling at the fear of Rayn and Fahrenheit dying. Both of them were on the screen. Oh Arceus, what if I witness them die! Rayn got crouched while Fahrenheit got in a fighting stance.

I wish Fahrenheit could hear me say this. "I'm so sorry Fahrenheit for all of the times I've treated you so wrongly. I just wish I could do something to make it up to you. I know I've already told you my heart is set for my Master, but if I had never developed feelings for him then I would've taken you as my mate weeks ago."

The auditorium lights were fading away and the only light was the projecting screen. I squeezed my eyes shut feeling moisture as Command began giving out the briefing.

To Be Continued

Seviper = Viper


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: 14 Assassins

"All recruits listen up!" Command had begun, "This is the last objective for the exam to prove which one of the six of you will be a Mafia 14 Assassin. I know, it's sad that only one can return… alive, but assassins of Feliciano must always put their lives on the line for the family. For the last eight months, each of you have been perfecting and conditioning for the fundamental combat purposes of stealth and assault."

I surveyed the two assault rifles trying to decide which I would use for the majority of the match. The FAMAS is an automatic rifle with a bullpup design that can use burst and semi-auto selector modes, but the M16 has more range having only a burst and semi-auto fire selector and is historically famous for producing strong hydrostatic shock to wounds. I'm more of a marksman anyways and the M16 is as close I'm getting to a ranged rifle for now, so M16 it is. Once I strapped the M16 to my back with the butt over my right shoulder for easier access I laid back against the base of a tree as command was still listing orders. I couldn't help but notice my head starting to tense up though. I clenched my eyes from the pain being irritable at first trying to shake it off but within seconds it turned into a very painful migraine. I pressed my temples in trying to concentrate on the match but it didn't do much relieving. The tempo in my skull got higher and higher as I put more thought into the fight. Could it be from being really stressed?

"All six of you will attack and kill the very people that you have been working with, but I know all of you can care less if you kill your own rivals; payback for talking all that mess behind your back during training is a way to think about it. Use the environment of the vast forest to your advantage. Various weapons and ammo will be found lying around the ground and in some hard to reach places. There is no time limit so don't rush. Updates on the battle will be posted. Now good luck, may the best young adult win. Commence the mission on my mark."

My migraine had been getting worse as every second and sound passed by. I involuntarily clenched my skull and strained in pain. Fahrenheit had an alarmed expression once I glanced at him. Sounds were turning into painful echoes and the light around me became distorted. I thought I would blackout but I actually saw my environment change before my eyes?

"Sir, you okay?" Fahrenheit asked in worry upon seeing me like this at the worst possible time.

The pain instantly vanished greatly reliving my senses. However, I opened my eyes to see that everything captured in my sight was either in a shade of blue or white! I'm in my Aura Sight again! I tried getting reused to the powers as I looked around. Okay just like the docks, zoom in zoom out focus and observe. To prove my powers worked, past the vegetation only around 60 yards away was the aura signature of one of the recruits. Somehow, someway like my conscious was communicating with me, just by evaluating the aura I found it was Jamal I was looking at! Arceus, it's like I've studied his aura before, and I had no doubt it was him! That's when I realized the mafia posted his position nearby me on purpose probably since it's not expected. The visions of the aura began fading and then my eyes returned to normal, but then it went back to aura. My vision kept switching back and forth and I started losing control of the power. No, come on I can't have this happen during a match!

"Five… four… three… two… one… begin!"

**(POV)**

"Sir, where to-"

I jumped at the sudden sounds of gunfire booming from what felt like next to me! I looked up to see Rayn leaning forward firing his gun through the trees. He had caught an enemy already? Something even more offsetting, as he was shooting his M16 he did not budge from the kick back like someone would normally do when firing a rifle at burst shots and it looked like he wasn't blinded by the muzzle flashes since he wasn't squinting at all. That's when I noticed that his hands were enshrouded in blue flame-like clouds around his wrists and forearm causing a distortion around his space as ripple marks became apparent in the air. The vapors would greatly expand more for every kick by the gun flowing around his arms in fluid motions before dissipating in the air; it almost looked like the gun was producing more of those flames for each shot but instead the blue haze was coming from his wrists directly. I looked at his eyes to see his right one glowed blue and his left glow blue past the tuft of his hair making him look almost inhuman! The haze around his wrist twisted around his arm as he fired at his target, which I still couldn't sense.

"Sir, what the hell are you shooting at!" I tried yelling above the gunshots.

He didn't respond. All he did was pivot around to keep his gun aimed for the target while expertly shooting his gun. Then he stopped causing the haze to dissipate.

"Sir, Arceus damn it Master, what's going on!"

His glowing eyes looked at me, and he finally responded, "Don't call me Master. We're both the same and I am no better than you."

"How… did- then sir what the hell were you shooting at? What was that stuff coming out of your hands, and how did you know I called you Master?"

To answer one of my questions, I heard an update on his headphone. "Jamal has been slaughtered by Jonathan." His eyes stopped glowing returning back to a normal light brown after a few moments we were updated.

"It looked like I just had the power of aura again," he spoke while carefully scanning his hands, "Remember that time I told you I can use the Life Energy power from time to time?"

"Aura, you mean that was it just now? Holy crap I never believed you until now…"

"I told you it only comes around on its own." Rayn then huffed in frustration, "It's gone now, but we better keep moving." Before I could ask anything else, he began jogging towards the area he was shooting at.

Once we got there, blood littered the grass and leaves. Jamal laid there with bullet holes through his suit and blood covering most of it while a puddle of blood was still forming around him. "Damn, nice kill sir!"

"There's still four more of them though," he said as he unclipped the magazine for the M-16 replacing it with a full one. I then searched his body for any useful ammo and weapons to take with us but all he had were M16 ammo but his other weapons didn't fit Rayn's preferred list. "Looks like all the good guns are in the forest, let's begin our search," he sighed.

**(POV)**

"Nice, oh my Arceus that was one beasty ass kill!" M-4 yelled at the top of his lungs as he jumped out of his chair.

I thought that the Don would have thrown him out for his outburst especially since he wasn't speaking formal, but everyone else was yelling in surprise and even Garand was clapping for Rayn's actions surprisingly.

"How in the hell did Jon even see him. Sometimes I think that kid is not even a kid and is just another teen fucking with us or something!" one of the assassins, M-9, spoke out.

"Every year we always put two recruits nearby each other to see just how long it would take for one of the recruits to find each other. And holy shit, Jon just… damn," M-4 added.

"Whoa wait, Jamal was way in the forest for him to even spot him without thermals on. His quilava couldn't even catch his scent and they were downwind from his position! He's barely ten for goodness sake…something's not right here!" M3T commented spinning one of her Streyr AUG Para SMG's by the trigger guard which she does almost unconsciously.

"Hah, you're one to talk. You were only eleven when you were out there," M-60 argued back.

"Silence! We all know that every other year we get a very young recruit and sometimes they are phenomenally well in the field. That is the results of our teachings," Garand concluded.

I couldn't believe there was a debate going on in here revolving around a young person getting slaughtered like that. I was getting pissed! What used to be innocent people, including Rayn, are now trained to slaughter others just like myself. This family's leaders are ruthless criminals and I can't wait to kill every person in this room.

**(POV)**

Hours into the objective shockingly became days without any luck on finding signs of others. On the third day, our food supply ran short and we barely mustered up the energy to walk since we knew we had to ration. I was beginning to lose hope as it felt like I had already fanned the entire island not finding any recruits.

"Nourishment will be dropped in numerous areas throughout the island. If you are low in supplies, head to the nearest cargo box in your location," Command informed.

As if on cue, I heard prop engines ripping through the air as a C-130 passed over us. I peered through the canopy to find it had dropped a large crate through the tail gate. The crate descended down with the trademark purple parachute into the forest and was going to land a little over a mile away. Fahrenheit and I both starving frantically dashed to the spot using the last of our energy.

Finally, the large wooden crate came into view. It rested next to a tree as the crate looked untouched, but before we walked up to it I noticed that something didn't feel right. This crate may have been here for over a half hour already so I bet some of my enemies may be here by now. We slowed to a walk as it was way too quiet around here. Some flying pokémon took off from the vicinity and never came back and there wasn't a sound from any wild pokémon. That means someone nearby is causing a disturbance within a few hundred yards. Fahrenheit was about to step into the clearing where the crate was but I held my hand in front of him.

"Sir it's so close. I need to eat- we need to eat!"

"Isn't it obvious? It looks like a trap. We have to stay here and watch for any movement. Can you catch a scent of metal or a person around here?"

Fahrenheit's nose twitched in the air as I took out my binoculars. "Nothing, now let's go-"

"Until I feel the area is safe we can't move," I answered my stomach overpowering the volume of my voice, "We've gone through stuff like this before in training remember."

After waiting for a good twenty minutes nothing moved. I routinely scanned every single inch of the scene in front of me, and I was doing it painfully slow to precisely spot any signs of a trap. The only sounds that had been heard were our stomachs rumbling begging for nourishment. It was clear in the middle of the day as the sun light casted only on the crate and the base of the tree while the rest of the light was obscured by the canopy of the trees. It looked as if the crate teased me; trying to bring me in to get whatever was inside.

"Okay, it's clear, now let's slowly-"

Before I could finish I heard shuffling footsteps approaching us fast. Out of nowhere, a recruit dashed out of the bushes just to the right of us and ran towards the crate. I almost raced him to the crate but forced myself to not move since this is a perfect opportunity for a kill. I brought out my M9, but before I could even bring the pistol to my face a rope had caught his ankle. Next thing I saw was him fall backward before being tugged upwards upside down by a tether around his ankle. That's where I saw the tip of a blade sticking out from the thick vegetation of a low tree. The blade instantly revealed itself by rotating out and towards the recruits head with enough force that it made a clean cut through his neck. The large knife was released from the energy of the spin like a projectile and had almost impaled my leg by landing inches from my thigh where I forced myself to hold in a yell from extreme fear! The knife was a long, black bladed combat machete. I saw Fahrenheit who was next to me have that same fearful expression too.

His head fell off instantly and rolled away from the crate. The eyes were still open but wide while his neck was still shooting out blood revealing a sick mess of veins, arteries, and the spinal cord which was sticking out shaded pink by the blood causing my pistol to merely slip out of my palms with my mouth agape from the horrifying view. I am so glad I had the patience to wait in cover! The dark, terrifying liquid drained out from the body that still hung under the tree with limp arms and fingers dragging across the crate. Decapitated, I had one less recruit to worry about thanks to the classic trap taught by M-4.

"Jake got chopped and screwed by Alec!" Command updated.

Before we moved Alec peeked out of the bushes at the opposite end and ran to the crate. He struggled to tip it over to get the blood off that constantly streamed out of the body above. While he exerted himself, I picked up the combat machete next to my leg and with Fahrenheit we quietly made our way out of the bush and stalked up to Alec. Heal to toe is a method taught by M-9 as a way of very quietly walking up to a target. He was still tipping over the crate as I slowly cocked my arm back with machete in hand. My palms were sweating greatly from the sheer anxiety I was getting. If I get caught at a distance Alec will definitely counter and kill me instantly. For every motion I made that closed in the length between us my breaths got heavier along with my heart beats which grew rapid. I was two yards away when he slowly started turning around. His eyes looked heavy, red, and darkened as he was starving and low on energy, but his eyes immediately widened as I brought the huge knife to his forehead with little hesitation. The jet black blade cleaved halfway through his forehead where I left it there dug inside. Alec stood there motionless before small shots of mortal liquid began dispersing on the soil and me before he gave out a horrific gasp collapsing backward onto the ground.

"Jonathan surprised Alec! Two more targets remaining for all!"

I forced the machete out of his head, causing a disturbing snapping and crunching sound and added the weapon to my kit by strapping the machete to my waist. I searched for weapons and ammo on him. I found his other machete but didn't see a good use in using two long knives and two Streyr TMP machine pistols. I replaced my one M9 with the TMPs by putting them on both sides of my waist.

I saw the lifeless body of the deceased Jake hanging over the crate where I noticed a long assault rifle strapped over his back. I dropped my FAMAS and replaced it with his Galil ACE 23 Carbine, a powerful, newly released series of rifles. I then pried open the crate and it revealed the food and water that Fahrenheit and I needed. Pokémon food, fruits, canned food, medic supplies, and water were found in the huge crate. As I dug deeper, I found two double barreled sawed off shotguns with 24 shell rounds half being buck shots and the other half slug shells. I thought for a second but decided I'm better with precise weapons and the forest won't do a shotgun any good so I left the sawed offs there, packed enough food and supplies to last a few more days, and then left the site to find a place to camp out and eat with Fahrenheit.

**(POV)**

"Rayn, Fahrenheit, please come back alive."

All I could do was gaze up at the ceiling as I lied down in one of the suites in the dark, the luxury failed to provide any comfort though. I couldn't sleep knowing that Rayn and Fahrenheit are struggling to stay alive on that island even though he has been making a name for himself. Two kills and he wasn't spotted once. Maybe…just maybe I don't have to worry about him too much.

I heard the door knob of the room rattle knocking my train of thoughts off course. "How're you doing Celsius?" Jewel peeked in.

"I'm better now I think." I responded rising out of the covers.

"Good to hear, I just wanted to note that you were well."

"Thank you, Jewel. I think I might manage."

"See you in the morning then, goodnight."

"Yeah, goodnight."

She closed the door where I was left to stare back up at the infinite of darkness. Can they really make it out alive? I huffed as I felt ashamed. Why can't I find it in me to believe in him? I'm his pokémon! He trusts in me, and what do I do in return? I worry about him, I don't believe in him, and I can't even find it in me to believe that he can survive the assessment.

"Celsius, I feel your disturbance from down the hall…" Jewel's voice echoed in the silence.

"Yeah, I bet you do, damn psychic," I groaned consciously.

"Let's discuss this through our telepathy then. I absolutely should not inform you about my past, but I feel that it's necessary to tell you," She sighed through our metal link, "I was almost just like you when I was younger. No one felt the will to assist my stability however. I worried consistently for M-4-"

"Bu-but how…how did you cope?" I pleaded mentally.

"I don't know Celsius. I'm assuming I just grew over the dangers even though it took a lot of time, and I never gave up because having a small sum of psychic energy I felt M-4's will to not lose hope just as an eevee. I guess I count myself lucky. It feels unusual when you feel that emotional connection with a young boy as a psychic type."

"How come you never told me this earlier? Some empathy you have…"

"Because I'm not supposed to mention my past to other assassins but like I said…as Jon's pokémon, I feel that I can trust you, your partner, and your trainer. I feel that energy." There was a long pause after she told me that. "Jose was the first assassin of the organization. He got recruited at the mere age of five just as a test subject where he got his name," Jewel communicated which had me appalled at how young he was, "I was given to him three days later after he and I learned about what this family was. At first I didn't care about his well being, I wanted to escape, until he as a child took me in and basically loved me like a pet while times seemed well. I was the only thing that made him happy during that time so I was fond of him too naturally because I went through the same treatment as Fahrenheit did but shorter in duration and only as an eevee. The Don constructed Mafia 14 based off what Jose could handle during training, and some of the methods he tried were brutal. When they were brainwashing him I was like you because I thought he was going to change into a bad person. I barely had hope and I didn't receive any contentment from anybody. As weeks went by I saw how mentally strong he was getting as I assisted his mental energy in learning how to resist corruption psychological torture so I grew hope. I supported him in all of his thoughts that were mature enough for me and gave him the strength to not give up on assignments we went on. You see, I assisted wherever possible to keep my trainer safe. Not many pokémon do that, especially in Mafia 14. I was immensely happy upon realizing that they can't make him into a dark person, hence why I'm an espeon. Because of the hope I had for him he is the foolish person that we all know…and even love."

"Good Arceus…What kind of things did he have to go through?"

"My point is that if you desperately want your Master to make it out intact then you must believe in him because that will give him the strength to come out alive. That's all you can do to assist him right now. It may seem useless, but trust me; he will feel that positive energy even though he's so far away. You don't have to be a psychic to do it."

I lied still thinking about everything she had said. Lips quivering under the weight of guilt, it was difficult to figure how to change myself. "I…I…damn it!" I caved in letting my held in tears flow through.

"You know even though I'm not his pokémon, right now I have full faith in Jon. He's stronger than any normal human being, and I may not be able to read his future like any normal psychic can but I know he'll come out alive." I listened in but still sobbed on the bed from being so ashamed of myself. "You need to stop doubting him and believe in your trainer… one day he will really need your support." She then cut off the mental communication.

**(POV)**

I packed up the last of the camping supplies as we were about to depart and find the other two recruits. I haven't heard anything about Alma yet from Command. I didn't know what to do do if I ever see her anyway. I mean, she has to die in order for me to succeed, but I can't just watch her die or get informed about how she was murdered. Who am I kidding I can't just say that she needs to die! That's really inhuman to kill a close friend; the only support I had during training! I…I just have to do something to prevent her death.

After shaking my draped head in disapproval of myself I rose up grabbing my kit. "Come on Fahrenheit, we're going now."

"Yes sir!" he declared after he was done with his bathroom business.

It was clear in the afternoon. The air was mildly warm from the protruding sun rays mixing with the humidity of the thick forest. Pokémon could be heard from all around as we trekked on. After two wasted hours of finding no one, we began getting impatient. I thought that if we laid a trap and stayed in position I could kill someone but the odds of someone springing it on this island is slim. I looked at my ENA even though I didn't hear any beeping coming from the device that indicated enemy presence. Once I glanced at it though Fahrenheit and I finally heard a clue of more assassins. Faint gunshots were echoing through the forest barely audible enough for Fahrenheit to hear. My fire type quickly led the way where eventually I began hearing the familiar rhythms of a battle going on. It sounded like a gun fight was forming as the explosions ran through the forest nonstop.

Once I notice the explosions growing louder I looked at my ENA and found two red dots upon zooming out as far as it could reach. Eventually we arrived at a tree line near the borders of a small valley where a low slope lead to a cliff that faced our position a hundred feet higher than the elevation I was standing on. The image was followed by a figure wearing nothing but black armor with blonde wavy hair crouched behind a thick log, Alma, where another bigger, black armored figure was opening fire on her, Keith. A short distance away was Keith's pokémon, a scizor, attacking Alma's pokémon, a swellow, where they were engaged in aerial combat.

"Fahrenheit, use a lethal Flame Wheel on that semi steel type to help out that swellow!" I quickly commanded.

Fahrenheit dashed at the fight with his whole body engulfed in flames. The quilava being less than half his opponents' size charged dead on about to collide with the scizor before somersaulting into a roll quickly rolling up hill at high speed still in flames. I watched him collide with the bug steel type while landing effective burns on his exoskeleton weakening the bug pokémon armor as the attack was super effective.

While Keith and Alma were momentarily surprised, I ran up behind Alma with my last grenade in hand. I pulled the pin and threw it towards Keith's location. He rolled out of the way in time before the grenade landed where he had stood as I took cover behind the log next to Alma taking out my M16.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!" Alma yelled but I saw she was smirking as she probably knew what my intentions were.

"What else does it look like? Let's end this prick!"

She nodded as she fired her M14A1 at him, my most favorite and effective rifle to use in my opinion. I also provided support by peeking out of cover and chipping away Keith's cover, being a thick tree, where I also landed a few hits on his armored limbs that stuck out with three round burst shots.

"Son of a- you damn cheaters!" I heard him scream out.

Laughing to myself I placed my back against the log preparing to reload. Once I pulled out a full magazine I spotted a green spherical looking object rolling slightly away from us.

"Duck and Cover!" I warned to Alma where I heard her cease fire as I crawled over to her cradling her head and upper body shielding her face as her arms shielded the back of my head and neck. This was not taught in training but we both knew how to sync our actions together to survive.

I anxiously waited for the pain I was about to receive growing queasy upon the possibility of Keith flanking us at the moment. Then as I predicted I felt a short-lived shockwave hit me instantly knocking me hard against the log where I lost Alma. Metal fragments painfully impacted my armor. Even really small, sharp fragments made it through and pierced my skin from the grenade blast. Lying on my side barely able to move from the sheer force that just hit me I got pummeled by dirt and debris as well as lost in smoke. And as all of this was happening I couldn't hear a thing as my ears got plugged from the total volume of the blast, and even though I probably couldn't hear my armor's warning I knew it was low and had to be regenerated. I snarled in pain not even able to hear myself curse out.

"Alma!"

"I'm fine!" I barely heard her call over as she was getting up from a fetal position followed by me as I finished loading my M16 after regaining most of my lost composure. "Shit, he's closing in! Cover me!"

Once the smoke diminished I saw her leave the log and run towards the closest tree spraying shots at Keith who was closer to our position than ever! I posted my rifle on the log then pulled the trigger but all I heard was a click. I rapidly began pulling the trigger with no results then cursed looking at my gun pulling out the magazine I just put in to see it was full of loaded cartridges so I quickly placed it back in the receiver but nothing shot out.

I quickly pressed in the assist plunger on the side of the receiver then began cocking back the handle behind the receiver to clear all the dirt that must've got in the chamber but as I cocked the gun no cartridges were jettisoned so it's critically jammed.

"Jon, I said cover me!" I heard Alma panic.

Nearly mentally collapsing under pressure I chucked the rifle away in anger knowing I won't have time to field strip and clean it so I took out the ACE 23 and fired shots at Keith who was just bombarding the tree Alma was at.

**(POV)**

"You're finally wearing a smile today I see," Jewel noticed.

I took a seat in one of the chairs of the auditorium. "After doing a lot of thinking last night after our talk, I know I must believe in my master and friend in order for them to survive. From all the smart decisions they've done so far they'll make it," I smiled.

"So you finally found some faith. That's good to hear."

"Yeah, I figured that you're right. Jon and Fahrenheit both need me right now and the best and only way to help is to believe in them."

"Good because right now they're in a firefight. You mentioned they've been applying reasonable decisions, which is true, up until now where Jon had a perfect double instant kill to Alma and Keith at a distance which would've ended this by now. However his feelings must've taken him. They're both assisting Alma and her pokémon. This could very well be the turning point for him."

Once I saw Rayn and Fahrenheit helping Alma out, I didn't close my eyes nor turn away. "Don't say that. Whatever decision Master makes is the right decision." I do believe in Rayn and I know that he will make it out alive.

**(POV)**

Upon evading the scizor's attacks before knocking him back with a Swift Attack I quickly jolted back next to Swellow getting back in a fighting stance recovering after that long attack I just made.

"Thank you for backing us up Fahrenheit, it's been good training with you," she relayed.

"No problem, it's my master's decision after all," I panted to Swellow, "Let's finishes him off now that his exoskeleton has been melted through before he recovers!"

"Roger that, going for another attack run. Cover me!" Swellow called out upon take off letting her reach a high altitude.

I saw the scizor get up then hover but I sprinted to him getting a hold of his leg in my maw before he could give chase.

"I'm going to make sure you fuckers suffer an extended death!" my enemy threatened as I held a firm grip on him.

**(POV)**

After letting Alma creep up to him I ran from the log spraying at Keith getting closer to him. Alma distracted him as I made my final leg to his position. Keith spotted me only a few feet away from his side as he charged me ignoring Alma's accurate shots. Springing his arms for me, I held my arms up to counter but then got deceived as he retracted his arms back to have enough energy to swing a leg at my lower body landing an effective kick to my thigh where I was stunned briefly. He made a wide swing punch at my face where I successfully caught him before throwing him backwards thanks to the momentum he gave in his twist, but he impressively rolled from his fall getting back on his feet.

We then began a close combat fight as we exchanged hands and feet to each other then he pulled out a combat knife causing me to pull out a machete. Keith was always the only fighter that could beat me in combat however. I grabbed his leg as he had just roundhouse kicked, and then I used my outside foot to hit him in the stomach. He coughed up and was about to fall over but he swiftly rebuilt his posture. Keith is highly favored by the assassins because he is the only person they have ever met to not feel pain no matter how bad the infliction seems. He then threw his knife at me but the tip had hit the ground in front of me. Unfortunately his knife throw was just a distraction as he shunt kicked me far back against a thick tree trunk where I tripped and fell into a small crater.

Upon regaining my energy I gazed around to see where I was at and found I was just in the entangles of the thick roots of the tree, but I also found a rectangular object under where the roots united on the tree. I quickly reached for the giant, green rectangle and pulled it out from the roots. I gazed at it completely appalled from what I just found.

Getting up I saw Keith charging about to jump in the crater but instead I used the weapon I just found to trip him and have him roll down the small hill the tree was planted on.

I got out of the crater as he was shaking off the dizziness he was in. I then clipped the latches open on both ends of the weapon placing my chest on one of the latches letting it be used as a butt plate while the back of the rectangle rested on my shoulder. "Hey, asshole!" Keith turned towards me. "Here's your Hell on Earth!" I insulted before pulling the trigger which resulted in a rocket bolting towards his position. I saw him quickly pull something off his vest and throw on the ground right before the missile impacted the dirt in front of his previous position. The rocket exploded releasing a flaming, viscous solution which rained over a wide area around the spot it blew up covering whatever it touched in immortal flames.

"Thanks for warning me before you shot, dumb shit," Keith called out a distance away from the crater of lava.

I stood motionless letting my rocket launcher hang down upon seeing him still alive and unharmed. How the fuck did he evade an incendiary missile hit from the M202 FLASH? The solution should've melted his armor and him! I looked towards the blast residue finding a small cylindrical piece of metal twisting within the fire, and upon quick, closer inspection I identified it as either a stun or flash grenade.

"Clever, using the blast of a grenade to deflect the solution away from your position as you dive…" I spoke merely to myself still stunned by his quick decision. Honestly, it intimidated me that he could process an escape that quickly. "Whatever, I still have three more missiles left in this launcher to fire!" I shouted at his location.

I heaved the launcher back up but not noticing I took too long being in a state of disbelief from all of the events collapsing on me at once. He fired his AK-74 Carbine towards me nearly chipping my head off! I ducked back in the small crater next to the tree I fell in. I peeked out firing my assault rifle at him but had to reload upon the first several shots I fired. I heard him whistle which was when I looked up to see his scizor fly overhead. Once I cocked my ACE I got out of the crater, but now his scizor was poised directly in front of Keith!

"I know your weakness, little kid," he smirked.

Damn it, he's right, I can't kill a pokémon. I backed away from the scizor as the pokémon kept approaching me. If someone has to do it, it has to be Celsius, Fahrenheit, or any other pokémon I'll have as long as I don't directly inflict the murder.

"Coward, using a pokémon shield!" I taunted.

"Best technique ever! Steel types don't get harmed by bullets as badly as all other types," he laughed.

Not a moment after his taunt Fahrenheit appeared in a flash as he rolled in with a Flame Wheel ramming the scizor against a nearby tree. Scizor quickly recovered though and dove in behind Keith.

"That's my last Flame Wheel I can use sir, I'm out of power for that attack!" Fahrenheit informed me as he got next to me.

Scizor began carrying Keith off the ground, but before they took off Alma's Swellow swooped in with a wing attack, knocking Keith off as he fell 15 feet while stunning her foe mid-air. Scizor then pursued the Swellow but having a better speed advantage she out flew him, but scizor had better maneuverability being a bug type.

"Jon, what are you waiting for? Swellow can't take any more hits! Use the FLASH on that bug!" Alma suggested yelling from her position nearby.

I stared at her for suggesting that bizarre idea, but then gave a second thought bringing the rocket launcher back onto my shoulder. "I…I…" I had a clear shot for the scizor while he was distracted but I just couldn't launch the missiles at him!

Swellow hurt badly had flown in too slow for an effective attack as she slammed into the scizor who had caught her as her head drilled against his body. "Quick!" Alma called out holding out her arms in frustration. Interpreting that she couldn't take her partner dying on her I threw the M202 at her literally releasing a huge weight off my shoulders now that I wouldn't have to get my hands dirtied by pokémon blood. She barely caught the large weapon before lifting it up on her shoulders. "Get clear, Swellow!"

Alma pulled the second trigger of the launcher which resulted in the rest of the three missiles launching simultaneously out of the chambers of the launcher. Smoke enveloped our area as all missiles trailed up towards the scizor in a sloppy, but sure formation. Swellow facing our position saw the missiles coming where she quickly clawed at scizor with her talons and was able to get away as I commanded Fahrenheit to use Smoke Screen so Keith wouldn't be able to ambush us. I quickly made my way through the pyroclastic field of black cinders and ash heading towards Keith's location where he had fallen.

As I ran I heard Alma scream like she was in full fear of seeing a ghost type. Running clear from the smoke I looked towards where she stared to see a stomach turning sight. Scizor was using his clamps to forcefully tear Swellow's wings off! Shit, the missiles must've missed him as I still saw a dissipating stream of smoke nearby him trailing upward. Quickly Alma tried to reload her M14 but I saw her panicked, fearful expression where she dropped the magazine clip on the ground. Having a bone crushing grip on her wings Swellow elicited a shrill cry as the bones were being forced out of their sockets slowly ripping tendons away! I started trembling knowing how helpless I felt. Caught in opposing forces of killing scizor to save Swellow or leaving scizor to rip her apart was ripping at my mind that I almost screamed in frustration. I couldn't decide what to do in time. The flesh finally tore open causing both wings to be yanked off at the same time, shooting blood, feathers, and gore out a far distance causing a horrific red mist cloud in front of the scizor. The body fell to the ground as scizor seemed to have laughed sadistically where he then pointed at Fahrenheit before communicating with him.

"Arceus… shit, Swellow! No, no, no, no… fuck!" Fahrenheit screamed losing his footing.

"Fahrenheit, disengage and regroup!" I ordered pulling out both of my TMP SMG's, now searching for Keith harder than ever with a higher blood lust. My frustration makes me want to rip Keith's arms off with my bear hands!

I ran through the smoke knowing these bullets were ready to tear Keith apart. Not a long moment after the brutal scene, I spotted Keith still within the Smoke Screen but on his hands and knees choking. Smiling proudly I made my way up to him where I brought my foot up to his side forcefully knocking him on his back where he coughed harder unable to breathe.

"You seriously need to die," I told him unsheathing a machete as he was on the ground now looking hopeless; a sight I won't soon forget.

However, before I could even pull the blade out his partner swooped in through the smoke where I only saw his clamp for a second before getting knocked in the head by it. I felt my feet leave the ground as I was hit with enough force to shock me as I flew back a couple yards struggling to regain my full composure since I was in a lot of pain. I couldn't move for what felt like several minutes but may have been half a minute.

"He killed him. He killed Swellow my partner!" Alma was in front of me as I was still on the ground where I saw her tear stricken, but from her tone she desired a satisfying vengeance.

"What happened?" I barely spoke still winded from the blow to my face from a giant clamp, "Where's Keith?"

Alma pulled me up to my feet. "His bastard pokémon carried him to the cliff. It's too steep to climb the precipice but if we go uphill instead then I can shove my shotgun barrel up his ass giving him the first and last ride of his life," Alma chuckled almost insanely.

"Affirmative, this has gone on long enough-"

Alma had charged directly into the clearing where the slope was at before I could finish my battle plan. Fahrenheit and I quickly followed as she took point but before we formed up my eye caught the familiar crimson colored liquid splattering out of a point on Alma's back armor. That's when I noticed the deafening echo from a gunshot. Knowing Alma's armor wasn't fully regenerated and now seeing blood originate from her body seemed to have frozen time as I knew it. She got kicked back from the blow of the projectile falling on her back grasping her wound over her lower torso.

Oh Arceus no…she's hit, she's fucking hit! The addition of anxiousness and doubt got piled on to my already adrenaline rushed heart as I made my way to her body.

"Alma! Hang in there!" I dragged her body back through the tree line and into cover. As I did this I felt a hit to my side so hard it lifted me off my feet where I caught myself from falling completely. Luckily the round didn't penetrate, but that's definitely a sniper rifle bullet; a very powerful one. Alma reached over for my hand clenching it tight as she raised her head weakly. No…please tell me her wound is not fatal!

"Thank you…so much for assisting me," she grunted before continuing, "All of these months."

"Hold still I'm-"

"Don't… don't do it. Don't patch me up… It's up to you now."

"No, you're going to live! Arceus damn it, I'm sorry I should've shot that pokémon while I had the chance, I fucking knew it!" I cried over her being unprepared for her death.

"It's not your fault. I know you're different from anyone else here, you're good. Only one of us can do it, and now that I'm injured I can't go on completing the goal," she struggled.

"Alma, don't! It was your goal- our duty…" I began sobbing. Gunshots still rang out but they never reached us.

"I have… grown a… liking to… you…"

"No, please…"I cried harder onto her hand as her grip grew weak, "Open your eyes, you like, like me! Then stay with me, please! You're just exhausted from the fight…please stay with me…" I now sobbed losing my mind knowing I was slowly but surely retrogressing into a child; I couldn't believe what was happening. The battle was changing how I was thinking! "Fuck! Don't think like this," I spoke quietly. My aura vision returned without warning showing Alma's aura being faint but still enough to support life a little longer. My aura powers went away once the realization came to me.

I heard a bullet wiz by before impacting the ground behind us. "She's still alive, but barely," Fahrenheit muttered in a tone barely audible. "Should we heal her?"

After processing her last seven words from her dying breath, I hugged her tight one last time. Never been told something like that in my life before I didn't know what to think of it being in the worst time. Her eyes were still slightly open enough to see me. "Good bye, Alma. I should've paid more attention to you when I had the time." She smiled as I set her down on the grass.

"Sir…" Fahrenheit was also feeling my pain as he was sniffling and on the verge of crying. "Swellow…Celsius…" I heard Fahrenheit mumble with his head down almost in tears.

"Engage the enemy, switch our tactics, it's time to kill. Not just for our goals but hers too! Now come on!" I commanded before sprinting towards the hill and moving up the slope with Fahrenheit at my side. Now I'm the only one who can kill the Don; avenging both my family and Alma's.

"Keith assassinated Alma!" Command updated.

**(POV)**

"It's just Jon and Keith now!" Jewel yelled nearly excitedly which had me shocked for a moment, "Poor Jon and Fahrenheit though."

I began tightly gripping the arm rest of the chair I was sitting in. Rayn is getting pissed about Alma's death, and she did like him. "Only one more to go Rayn."

"Hey M-4, if I was him I would've kissed her goodbye before leaving. Shiiii-et, she left her hanging this whole time and still- at least he should've kissed her you know," M-60 told M-4, "Lucky S-O-B."

"Oh nice, yeah, you tell that to Jon so he can shoot your dick off," he joked, "Not that lucky either, more like fucked in the head by what she said…"

"Man, I'm just saying, shit… That was a perfect, juicy ass opportunity."

"Besides he's a kid, his balls haven't dropped all the way yet so he don't know what to even do with a wet pussy," M-4 smiled.

"Man I found out what to do and how to do girls before I was even five and then when I found out how useful the fucking internet is. Eat that pussy, suck that clit, toss that salad, ugh yeah. Hell yeah!"

"M-60, you're more fucking hornier than an arcanine right now, shit!" he joked.

**(POV)**

I ran down the tree line as Keith still kept on trying to shoot me. I shot back at him with my automatic and used the trees ahead for cover to buy us some time to get around the cliff. As I sprinted I noticed that I was running much faster than I could've ever imagined with what felt like almost an infinite supply of stamina. I didn't feel any muscles of oxygen fatigue at all during the uphill climb! Not even Fahrenheit could keep up with me most of the run as I turned my head back seeing my feet were enshrouded by blue, white, and black flames of aura giving me enough speed to land myself gold medals in the Olympics! I could only keep a pissed expression as I closed in on Keith ready to deliver the final blow.

Once we leveled off with Keith in sight as he still attempted to shoot at me, where Fahrenheit and amazingly I evaded his shots, I drew out a combat machete from my sleeve pocket and waited for myself to get in range.

"Fahrenheit, kill the scizor. I'll handle his trainer."

"What! Are you fucking crazy! Without Swellow's help I won't stand a chance!"

"You can take him. Don't you ever lose confidence Fahrenheit like that again!" Keith was still trying to shoot at us with his anti-material sniper rifle; the distance was closing in between us which caused him to have trouble. "Keep your back flared up so you have the upper hand!"

"Y-yes sir." We broke formation as he charged with flames expanded at scizor who was hovering next to Keith.

Once I was close enough, I threw the machete at my rival while he was trying to switch weapons. The blade swung midair before successfully digging in cleanly through his armor piercing his right shoulder; another weakness of the armor along with high temperatures is thin, long, sharp objects. He grunted forcing his other weapon, a Spectre M4 SMG, out of his hand where it fell down the cliff.

I used this opportunity to close the gap between us by jumping up, crouching mid air, and then extending my right foot out while mid flight to make a jaw breaking kick to his face. He flew back a good few feet away but then immediately got back up probably not feeling stunned. I stood and watched him attempt to yank out the machete from his shoulder. For a fraction of a second the frustration I felt had been replaced with utter fear and intimidation. He grunted and huffed as he slowly drew the widening blade out where I could've taken the shot but I was way into being shocked and even frightened from him doing this without a single yell of pain, but I kept an emotionless glance not wanting to show anymore weakness. He finally yanked what was left of the blade out spraying blood halfway through the ranged distance between us.

That's when I pulled out my SMG's as I approached him not wanting to make this harder on me in the future but at the same time be the first to actually hurt him. He picked up his sniper rifle that fell next to him as well as behind some shrubbery revealing a big, notoriously dangerous gun: the Barrett M-82A3. I kept on closing the distance between but was ready to pull the trigger on him if he tried to point that giant rifle at me. Instead, he placed the enormous four and a half foot long rifle behind his back as I finally stopped approaching him being twenty yards away from his position. I could hear battle cries from behind as scizor and Fahrenheit were still engaged in combat.

"I know that I'm the only one that can defeat you in a fight, so let's make this fair, little kid," he spoke as he removed his suit before disconnecting his armored plates from his torso and sleeves only leaving his tank top on. I lowered my guns being curious about where he was getting at. He then put his smart shirt back on. "Let's have a showdown just like in the old Wild West times." He then lifted his suit over his holstered Glock 34's as he got his feet shoulder length apart crouching halfway. I flinched pointing my guns at him but he only pulled one pistol out backwards. "Relax, and catch." He threw the pistol towards me where it fell in front of me not even bothering to catch the weapon. I knelt down keeping a careful eye on him before picking up the G34.

"I should kill you slow right now for taking this so damn seriously," I replied but proceeded to undress removing all of my upper body armor as I wanted to be civil and not inflict an unfair overkill. I discarded the TMP's and only had the Glock in my right holster as I got in a similar stance facing him from a short distance. We each placed our hands only a few inches away from the grip of the fire arms. I remember the only time there was a draw like this was during training sessions and it was done with only air soft guns and just for fun after a training session.

I flexed my fingers and loosened them as I tried to intimidate Keith by glaring at him. He smirked as he took less than a second to look at the pokémon battle unfolding behind me. I waited for the right time to strike. I either go first or wait for him to go. The only sounds were clanking from scizor's Metal Claw to the ground and explosions as flames surged behind me. We both waited for one to strike. Anxious almost a minute has passed with no movement from either of us.

"Hmph, you're too young to die," he smirked getting me tense.

Finally, in a split second, Keith forced his hand to his pistol grip. It looked like everything went in slow motion, literally every piece of movement slowed to an extent through my view as my vision had changed seeing the aura again! I drew out the pistol he tossed and raised it to his body level, but I saw through him as I literally read his thoughts that he was planning on shooting at me in the foot going up and ending at my head. I didn't have enough time to respond as all I could do was roll to the side before I saw the soil my foot was over cratered by a bullet in slow frames through my eyes as my dive to the side was slow and precise to me.

I took advantage of the slowed time frames by taking aim, noticing my movements were significantly slow but sure, and blasting my pistol at him while in the middle of my roll. His red and white figure was upside down as I saw the outline of the fiery flashes at the air at the end of my muzzle expand in ripples followed by the bullets rocketing with extreme velocity. He fired as well, seeing most of the bullets fly past me missing. Though this new power could only last for so long as without warning my vision stopped and everything returned to normal as I was on my side about to come out of the roll. His last shot impacted my chest and my last fired shot landed his left arm. Due to the confusion of the speed of all movement quickening and the sharp pain that travelled throughout my chest I couldn't complete my roll out smoothly. Added to the pain searing around my rib cage I landed on my side feeling my legs hit the ground hard at the wrong angles against the ground before grasping my chest trying to lower the pain. I then lost control of my body as my aura returned without warning where I saw the bullet inside my body had punctured my lung like an X-ray chart.

As I marveled over the image of my injuries my sight began fading slowly darkening before I was completely blind from all light sources. Then my vision returned but disappeared again as I was fighting blind! I lost control of all my body movement as well not being able to see only feeling numb! After several seconds my vision returned back to normal where I quickly resumed my fighting stance only to be instantly hit by the huge butt of an M82 that knocked me into a barrel roll mid air. I got a short glance of him doing an under hand swing with the same rifle where I was hit on my rib cage knocking me to the ground. Winded trying to get off from being on my back I stared up seeing the insides of a wide rifled barrel which quickly sent chills down my spine as I was overcome with hesitance. He had the end of the barrel only a few inched from my face as he smiled, but thanks to the size of the gun making him stand back a good distance I kicked him in the ankle with my right foot before adding another side kick to the right with my left foot to the barrel knocking the aim to my right where I used the momentum to roll up to the right side hoping to shorten the distance between us. He pulled the trigger instantly after the second kick cratering the ground just mere millimeters away from the side of my head with an earsplitting shot. I finished the spin by getting on my hands before landing on my feet now facing him as I tried to show I was no pushover. I grabbed the barrel of the rifle as he pivoted towards me making him pull back in instinctive response. His balance off, I followed his fall closing the distance between us as I knocked the rifle out of the way by reaching over and nudging his knuckles with one hand while hitting the receiver of the gun upward with the other. Then I kneed the side of his thigh barely stunning him which I followed up by an elbow to his face. The counter attack, taught by Lucario, caused his grip to release the gun where it flew back landing directly into my palms. Unfortunately due to its magnificent size, I made it fly to where it landed in my hands backwards.

**(POV)**

Knowing Rayn has everything under control, I watched the battle between Fahrenheit and the scizor that was being monitored by a different camera. Fahrenheit was having a tough time weaving out of scizor's clamps, but he would counter by shooting Ember if he got too close. Scizor's clamps were showing signs of melting and dulling since the clamps are part metal but being at a high level demanded more attacks and heat to melt his armored skeleton.

"Come on Fahrenheit, burn his ass! You could win. I know you can!" I crossed my claws as I prayed for Fahrenheit's victory.

"Oh no!" the frightful broadcast from Jewel broke me out of my cheering.

I looked at the screen to see Fahrenheit being held by his muzzle high in the air by one of scizor's clamps! "No- come on Fahrenheit!" I yelled with heart fueled volume startling Jewel next to me.

Scizor had cocked his free clamp back. I gasped as he forcibly ran the sharp tip of his clamp up Fahrenheit's side knocking him out of his grip. Blood flying out of Fahrenheit's gash was evidence that he was heavily wounded where I watched motionless and in shock seeing a comrade go down in such a way. All I could do was watch his limp body dive to the ground after being knocked high into the air. I was at the brink of collapsing into hopeless sobs knowing that could be fatal. I got up and walked out of the room not wanting to see what other damage could be done.

"Where are you going? You have to stay and hope that Fahrenheit stays alive and Jonathan wins." Jewel asked.

"I can't, I just can't watch this anymore!" I cried. I left the auditorium to gaze out the large window panel facing the island. Seeing a being I care for get injured so violently like that as I can only sit and watch tore at my emotions as I stared towards the island hoping for the best.

**(POV)**

Before I could back up and manipulate the gun, I heard a shrill cry that sounded like Fahrenheit's calling. I instinctively turned my head to see Fahrenheit's body flying towards me. He landed behind me where I saw the horrific slash running through the length of his entire. His fur was matted in blood and other deep cuts were seen but this wound was appalling. He turned to face me and tried to speak but he looked like he had trouble breathing. I was frozen the whole time and without thinking, I rushed to Fahrenheit's aid.

However, before I could turn around completely, a searing, sudden pain in my lower torso stopped all of my actions. I grunted in pain then looked down my stomach to see the handle of a combat knife sticking out of the area of what should be the kidney. Keith was in front of me showing me a sadistic grin where all I could do was gasp in pain as he mentally taunted me. He spun around me trying to grab his rifle and pressed on the knife at the same time. I saw his scizor fly overhead feeling him land behind me, his clamps colored in red darker than his exoskeleton.

"I won, buddy," Keith concluded.

I bent over trying to reach for the knife, but then I felt a similar pain through my back. Keith had used his other knife to stab my other vital organ. My vision was reddening as the foreign feeling of warm liquid flowing up my throat became apparent. I coughed up and felt limp and almost numb to motor control. I fell forward still with the sniper rifle entangles in my grasp where I felt my finger push against a button. Then in a slit second I flew forward unwillingly landing on my stomach. That's when I slowly looked down to see my finger was on the trigger of the gun. Using the little energy I had left to roll over about to pull out my pistol, I was instead greeted to a perfect view of a mutilated Keith. He must've placed himself in front of my gun as he stabbed my back. The .50 caliber BMG bullet tore through him with such force that it severed his whole body in half by the waist line since he had no armor on to protect him. I found his face was still making movement followed by his arms as he pointlessly tried to prop himself up only to fall back down once he felt the flowing pain I just delivered him. Trying to feel around the area where his legs should be but only dipping his fingers in blood and a mess of intestines he raised his head back now wailing loudly towards the sky in what I knew was a scream in sheer pain now that realization hit him fiercely; just what he deserves.

Unfortunately, I looked next to him to see his pokémon in the same state. That's when I noticed that I had killed a pokémon for the first time! Damn it, I had vowed to myself that I would never harm a pokémon with my hands! I was so shocked by what I had done that I actually cried from the shame and pain by hurting a pokémon that was manipulated by an enemy. The screams from my fallen rival silenced now, at my waist I saw that Fahrenheit had crawled next to me. He wore a heavily exhausted, painful expression as his maw was halfway open exposing his dirtied canines. He wheezed struggling to take in air as he desperately tried to stay with me.

"It… l-looks like… I can't get out alive," he wheezed, "Looks… like… I failed you…"

I couldn't speak as blood kept running out of my mouth. All I could do for a response was shake my head and crawl to him reaching out and cradling him within my arms. I can't believe Fahrenheit is dying, can't believe I failed my goal! Celsius… I cried on top of Fahrenheit as I might have also failed my partners, but I looked up to see the familiar green colored haze dancing on my arms where it almost appeared to be flowing directly through Fahrenheit's fur. Aura… the aura can save him! The green forms were circulating through my arms as it was flowing into him and around my whole body. His wheezing stopped as his breathing was slightly improving but not enough for him to become stable, but for me I still felt very weak. Knowing that I might die I pulled Fahrenheit in as close as our space permitted holding him until my body gave way.

**(POV)**

I dug my face into my arm that rested on the window pane soaking my feathers in tears. Fahrenheit is in danger and it could be the last time I see him again... I was startled by the auditorium doors slamming open. Livius ran out the door and gave commands to the few elites that followed him.

"Load the stretcher on the chopper! You, get some AB type blood in the cooler and get everyone in the medical faculty that are onboard ready! Tell the pilots to get to that island now; coming from explicit, direct orders from the Don himself!" He and a few grunts ran with him down the hallway as he gave various commands. All of those commands packed more tension onto me as it sounded like there was a medical emergency. I turned and paced around hoping that it didn't involve Rayn. Jewel walked out of the auditorium with a horrified expression.

"What's going on!" I panicked.

Her head was hung low before she raised it and said, "Jon and Fahrenheit have won but are both in grave danger."

Without thinking, I followed Livius and the other grunts to the helicopter on the landing pad of the yacht. Once I got to the pad, the rotor blades were already spinning on the medic helicopter and Livius was on board with nurses and doctors. I was about to run up to the helicopter but two grunts grabbed me and pulled me back inside the ship. The chopper then began hovering in the air before taking off towards the direction of the island.

"No, let me go, I want to be by Master's side!" I sobbed keeping my view fixated on the retreating helicopter as it went straight for the island.

**(POV)**

The flowing aura kept Fahrenheit at the same state. It didn't look like he was improving but he wasn't getting worse at the same time. I however felt as though I was getting worse. The pool of blood reached my face and I began to slowly blackout. I felt a strong down draft and resonance on the ground as I heard something in the distance thumping but that was barely audible since I was losing all of my senses slowly. Next thing I knew was that Livius got in front of me. I felt myself being lifted then restrained on a board where I just let my eyes close. I knew I was still alive because I felt something sting the back of my elbow and wrists knowing I was being pierced by medical tools. I opened my eyes a little to see Fahrenheit being carried away by another stretcher. I then felt an odd sensation of all of my energy concentrating directly into me as the aura was circulating through my veins at a more concentrated level. I then lost all consciousness.

**(POV)**

"Quick, get both of them connected and inside the chopper," I commanded.

Jonathan's body was glowing blue and green as he was transitioning into the reserve state that aura guardians have as an autonomic defense mechanism to stop temporary death. His life energy is keeping both him and his pokémon alive right now.

"Why is he glowing?" a paramedic asked.

"He has aura, something you didn't learn in medic school."

I ran next to the stretcher that carried Jonathan as the paramedics placed it inside the chopper. I got inside and slid the door shut as we ascended. Paramedics hooked both of them up to the monitors and breathing tubes. I looked at Jonathan's monitor and his pulse was set at a constant, life-threatening fast rhythm.

"Patient is showing signs of VT!" a doctor announced.

"Ready the Defibrillator now! We can't lose this assassin."

I watched the paramedics place the shock pads around his chest at the appropriate spots to steady his heart rate before he can slip into cardiac arrest or worst. After the first pump of electricity into his chest he didn't stabilize but instead flat lined.

"Add a dose of atropine into the IV," the doctor told the nurses, "Livius it is very unlikely that he can survive! He's lost too much blood."

"Use the defibrillator on him again," I ordered ignoring his comment.

"But sir, that's impossible. His wounds are too f-"

"I am very familiar with what can save him a lot more than you practitioners! Do it!"

The paramedics were preparing to revive him as another nurse hooked up additional blood packets into the IV's. I then checked on his pokémon. If I'm right, I saw that Jonathan was feeding him aura to keep him alive, but aura can't heal others if they're dying. It can only buy the body time for medical help. I looked at his wounds which were being treated.

"Livius Sir, we'll most likely have to euthanize this quilava. His injuries are too complicated."

"What was that? So are you going to euthanize this here assassin too? Talk like that and I'll report you to my uncle for referring to pokémon being lower than humans! There's no such thing as a Mew damned complicated injury! Fix it! If you can repair a similar wound on a boy, then you can do the same to his pokémon."

Jonathan was brought back as I had thought and the paramedics were concentrating hard to keep him that way.

The helicopter hovered over the pad at this time. I slid the door open after touchdown and helped get the two stretchers out. We ran through the hallways clearing everybody out of the way as we got him into the yacht's E.R. stations. We hooked everything back up again to the two stretchers as I stood back to let the doctors and nurses heal him giving necessary commands when needed. Jonathan and Fahrenheit should live since Jonathan has the power of aura. There can't be a chance that they can die since we arrived in time!

**(POV)**

I ran to the E.R. to search for Rayn and Fahrenheit. I found them in a room being treated by numerous nurses and doctors. Looking through the window to see their conditions, Fahrenheit seemed stable, but Rayn's monitor was red alerting the room about his state. The number showing his pulse rate jumped from 60 to 140 and then to 30 within ten seconds! His body began convulsing putting me at my limits. I was about to cry out when I saw his monitor show a flat line. Livius gave them numerous commands. A doctor then shocked him with the pads twice and his pulse was back, but it flat lined again shortly!

"Revive him again!"

"Sir, face it he's gone! He's lost too much blood. This is not a movie, it's impossible to bring a person back to life with just defibrillators!" a doctor yelled.

Livius ran up to him and tugged his suit by the collar. "He still has a fucking chance. Trust me and revive him!"

He shoved the doctor back where he just glared at Livius. "Clear!" The doctor tried to shock him back to life. He succeeded but it doesn't look like he would last.

I lost control of myself as I sobbed at the window. "Master!" I don't know what I'll do if he dies. His monitor flat lined again, but it went back up to 60 pulse rate on his own this time. I saw Jewel run inside with M-4 at her side where stood in front of Master's bed.

"Alright Jewel, bring his ass back. Wish him back," M-4 commanded.

Jewel's body began glowing green as small fragments flew above her and Rayn like small shooting stars. Rayn's began glowing green as time passed. Then the monitor's color went to green reading normal at 60 bpm showing her move had worked a miracle. The doctors fed blood and other medicine into the IV's as some of the nurses stood there looking astonished as well as me.

"That's right, she can bring back the dead," M-4 mouthed as Jewel shook her head from her masters' attitude.

Of course Livius could only stand and scowl at his manner, "M-4, shut up and-"

Everyone jolted out of the short felt relief however once Fahrenheit started convulsing just like Master did a moment ago before everyone's eyes!

"I thought I told you to keep him stable!" Livius yelled at a nurse.

"He's bleeding internally! We can't get the blood loss to stop fast enough!"

"Jewel, how much power do you have left in that Wish?" M-4 asked before he nodded, "That should be enough. Use it on Fahrenheit quick before he's fucked! Wish the bleeding to stop," M-4 ordered.

Jewel jumped up on top of Fahrenheit's bed then lied on top of him. "Stand back this is going to be difficult!" she ordered psychically for all the people present to understand. Her body glowed green as miniature shooting stars appeared above her some impacting on Fahrenheit which was effective enough to not only stabilize his body but cause him to awaken moments after she finished the move which had me greatly relieved.

"Jewel," he gasped! "Oh… Am I in Heaven?" I heard Fahrenheit chuckle weakly while being brave enough to extend his forearms out to embrace Jewel by her nape and back causing me to growl at him through the window for the hug he just gave out of place in the situation before I shook my head nearly questioning myself. Jewel blushed from noticing the tight awkward position they were in from the beginning of her reviving him. Jewel was directly straddling Fahrenheit as they faced each other with her paws at his sides. Then Fahrenheit nuzzled Jewel which shocked both me and her ever more. "Thank you," he spoke before passing out.

"Y…you're welcome… little quilava…"

"Eh, What a cutesy scene," M-4 snickered sarcastically before demanding, "Let's go Jewel."

"Ah, the miracle of natural pokémon courting concluding the end of the near death of two soldiers; what an interesting assessment this year was," Livius commented while leaving the doctors.

Jewel, M-4, and Livius walked out of the room. I then ran up to her grabbing her by the shoulders from being overwhelmed with questions. "Are they going to be alright? Can I see them again?"

"Y-yeah, they're going to be fine…" she spoke almost lost in thought but before facing me with her serious signature eye contact, "Both are in stable condition. My Wish had stopped their comparatively major complications."

"But was it really necessary to lie on top of Fahrenheit like you were gonna... I mean I didn't see you do that to R-Jon!" I interrogated wanting an answer so badly I nearly spoke Master's real name!

"Yes, because Fahrenheit was in a worse state than Jonathan was since the doctors focused more on him. Your master is going to have his name changed soon now, he passed." She sighed before leaning her side against a wall, "Too bad his little pokémon didn't nuzzle me intentionally, he just did it because he was still dazed," she sighed almost dreamily as I slumped against the same wall ignoring her now letting the atmosphere of relief hit me.

While I was still recovering from all of the stress, Livius walked out of the E.R. after speaking to some of the doctors. "Your trainer seems to have rare powers unlike any other person I've met and I can sense it," he spoke to me. "I know it's not natural, but I want to train him in the arts of aura manipulation very soon, and you and his other pokémon can get involved. It will strengthen your relationship with him significantly." I nodded knowing its true. I thought about the future where Rayn would learn the skills as Livius proceeded down the hall.

To Be Continued

That's it for now. I hope you all enjoyed reading. And sorry for all of the confusion during your reads from all the POV changes without notification. I guess fanfiction's system couldn't read the asterisks.


	10. Chapter 9

AN: If this chapter is not major foreshadowing then I don't know what is; pay attention.

Chapter 9: My Calling

Assassins, we are the finest hitmen in the mafia despite are appearing physical limits. Within the isolated property of the Feliciano Mansion specialized assignments are given to us assassins. They are diverse from assassinating high prioritized threats to simple escorts with casual attire; of course with the thin layer of armor and one pistol still worn. The smaller jobs, significance wise, are for the grunts which are found throughout the region of Hoenn hired by the Don, but the elite grunts only found within the property of this particular mansion deal with the harder, more life threatening favors which thankfully spares assassins a bit of trouble.

I am the tenth assassin of Mafia 14; ironic how the very enemy of the mafia has earned the right to hold one of the highest titles within the organization and is walking beneath their feet. I just need to work harder to get right under their noses, and luckily my hard work and "acts" of loyalty over the past few months as an assassin have been recognized.

But first, upon my ceremonial initiation into Mafia 14 I was given the right to choose my weapon set and my new suite. I'm no longer called Jonathan or Jon around the mansion. Based on the rifle I chose I was given the name M-14 being primarily armed with an M14A1 Rifle which due to the length and new attained luxury I had Garand commission the receiver of the gun and my weapons belt to be costumed tailored. The receiver of the long marksman rifle now has a feature that enables it to be firmly clipped to my right waistline by my belt diagonally so that the butt stock stays behind my shoulder and out of the way during combat creating more room for my other weapons. The newly created, state-of-the-art positioning of the rifle lets me move quickly and engage combat with my rifle strapped away to be drawn up within a fraction of a second. My secondary weapon is the prized M82M1A Barrett Sniper Rifle strapped across my back with the butt over my right shoulder for easier access; of course the elites and experienced assassins present at the ceremony that night were unsure when I chose this weapon until I tested my load out at a range in front of all of them with little trouble. My sidearm weapons are two LAR Grizzly Mark V Pistols, which once again surprised the audience when I picked up the pistols and fired them carefully handling the force of the 50. caliber bullets exiting the gun. These hand guns stay holstered on my sides with the right gun organized behind the receiver of my M14. Lastly my combat weapons are two basic combat knives kept within pockets located on the side of my upper arm for cross arm, simultaneous equipping.

With this unique looking load out it appalls anyone who sees me walking around fully armed within the property. My room was moved one level down next to M-4's suite. Entering the suite, set up just like the other assassin's suites, an oversized king size bed is set against the left wall, computer desktop on the far wall to the left of the curtained and draped covered window, a big wall mounted LCD television is on the opposite wall of the bed, weapon's locker in the far right corner, with a personal kitchen and a fridge being down a separate corridor to the right upon entering upon with the other rooms, own very large bathroom next of the kitchen separated by a wall, and lastly a spare room separated from the bathroom which I use to house my pokémon where they sleep on large human beds that I requested to have installed since I now have to prohibit Celsius from sleeping on the same bed as me. All in all, it feels like I earned my own condo that is always cleaned and service by our people daily.

Not to forget, a lot of credit goes to my pokémon who earn this luxury. They have bravely stuck by my side since this great transition. Both have shed blood for me and nearly died enduring many cases of physical and physiological torture all for what I want. Celsius, I'm so proud of her for being so loyal to me since birth being close to my age at nine years old with our birthdays being a mere two days ago; still very young. I still remember when she was a torchic living happily with me in a successful family to the moment I saw her matured combusken form, but now she's a fully evolved blaziken who's never afraid to be by my side evolving under a month ago. She has a strong, fully toned body with an athletic woman's proportion that can endure daily training and assignments efficiently. I'm still not used to her fully matured change. I'm still getting used to new procedures and exclusions now that she's fully evolved. However, her mind is not like her body unfortunately. Since the moment I became an assassin she acted different being slightly more introverted but still thankfully excited about the fact that I lived. That's when I confirmed that after a few assignments with her she feels a huge tremendous amount of guilt each time I take a life or when she does; something I have not even gotten fully used to doing but learned to tolerate just like the other assassins. Even as she evolved I expected her personality to change back to normal with more taste for competition and an active nature but that didn't come. She along with me is depressed about my actions.

Fahrenheit's situation is slightly similar to Celsius'. He's still the loyal quilava that I feel great pride for because I raised him to become the best he could be under these extreme conditions, but I still feel like a worthless friend because now he has a long scar running through the side of his body from the assessment. That scar is only skin with the fur growing around making it stand out if observed at a short distance. I will never forget how he chose to stick by me even though he wasn't part of my family in the first place but still cares. His personality is close to Celsius' since we are all trying to cope with the change of killing people. Taking lives is different now since we don't know any background information about the targets I take out unlike the other recruits I trained with whom I grew to hate; with only one exception, Arceus rest her soul.

Anyways, as I mentioned before, the Don and Garand have recognized my work. I was promoted exactly where I wanted to be thanks to my size being slightly lesser than the smallest assassin, but with my great knowledge it automatically compensates showing my potential. I was promoted to being the Don's full time escort very recently, so now I can be near him at all times just to provide "protection".

That was not good for M-60 though whose job was to be the full time escort for Garand. He was, unfortunately for M-4 and I, reassigned to working for Team Rocket temporarily to which he accepted since he doesn't care about siding. To add, I'm not the only young kid freakishly armed with big weapons. Being very big, even for his present age of fourteen, he's armed with an M60E4 MMG, strapped diagonally to his back with the trigger over his right shoulder, along with an M32 MGL mk.1 Grenade Launcher, also strapped diagonally with the butt over his left shoulder making a bulky 'X' pattern across his back, with two Glock G21 pistols, holstered across his stomach with the grips facing outward for easier access, and with his last weapon being a sheathed two foot long Bolo Sundang machete strapped to his left waistline Team Rocket favored his load out since the organization faces big pokémon, who are always drugged to be enhanced, so he can be there to assist in control; plus, he's always had those weapons since he was eight years old which further proves the absurdity of Mafia 14 since all assassins are highly trained child soldiers who are bigger, faster, and stronger than the average boy or girl. He was picked up by a Team Rocket transport VTOL just yesterday.

Someone needed to be Garand's escort, so M-4 was moved to that job as I took his to which he accepted disappointedly after learning one of his best friends works for an organization he hates. I say "one of his best friends" because once I became an assassin I earned a lot of respect from numerous people, especially M-4 and M-60. M-4 welcomes me oddly as much as he does M-60 so when we're not busy with assignments we're usually found in either his suite or mine just killing time, but unfortunately I can't look at him as a friend due to me goal. Being armed with an M4A1 Carbine, strapped straight down the right side of his back, a Franchi SPAS 12 Semi-auto Shotgun, strapped parallel to his carbine on his back, along with two Bren Ten Pistols holstered at his sides, and six pairs of sharp throwing knives pocketed throughout his upper arms and legs, since he's a practitioner when it comes to different kinds of bladed weapons, I like to bring him along in assignments if the briefing permits me since he's good at urban assaults. Almost all the time until recently, he's seen with Jewel, the espeon whose head reaches up to the almost thirteen year old's waistline as she walks by his side loyally listening only to him. Having that emotional connection to him she has also grown friendly to me and my Pokémon as well.

These promotional changes happened over the course of a day, and with me being the Don's escort means whenever he leaves the house I must follow casually still armed and protected.

"Your first assignment as an escort is very simple," he told me. He wants to visit a relative to speak business who lives in Alto Mare. Once I heard Alto Mare though curiosity sparked about viewing the famous city but I ignored it knowing this was just another assignment until he informed that he wants to relax there too taking several grunts as well to provide protection and rest. He even spoke about letting me go touring around the famous city and this time I get to bring both my Pokémon instead of being limited to just one. As he briefed me all I could think about was the opportunity of being with my pokémon in a tourist rich city. This may be just what I need to cure our depression; a simple, relaxing couple days in the beautiful, historic city of Alto Mare. I remember Celsius and me talking about wanting to visit there when we were really young. With this chance I can hopefully restore our relationships back. During our stay there I will not, absolutely will not, mention anything negative being murdering, working, or mourning over the brutal past. In a beautiful city it will be all about the present.

It was a long trip flying to Lilycove City then boating to Alto Mare by means of complete luxurious transportation. Once we finally docked at the main port of the city that early evening everyone was given orders to escort the Don to an estate on the outskirts of the main attractions. Once we got to the house I was introduced to his brother but I didn't pay attention to how he was affiliated with the mafia only acting interested by shaking his hand and loyally standing by the Don. His brother, being as successful as the Don, had his people prepare a special dinner made fit for kings, which is a normal diet for me and my pokémon which is a positive of becoming an assassin, where everyone present consumed the gourmet dishes, including the pokémon present, before I was dismissed off to bed in one of the guest rooms with my pokémon leaving the Don and Garand to discuss matters with his brother. So far so good since I had no difficult task, and in all honesty I couldn't wait to go sightseeing tomorrow with my Pokémon that night because also happening tomorrow is the Tour de Alto Mare.

"Okay, so let me get this straight. You're saying the water washed out of this city all at once and was brought back as a large tidal wave several stories high?"

"That's right, but you probably don't believe any of those legendary notes in the museum because you're so boring."

Coming back from a small shop I found my two fire types debating on the bench where I last left them. Celsius, in her taller bipedal, human-like form sat on the bench. Being close to six feet tall with bright red and yellow feathers coating most of her body she stuck out more than anything present within the populated portion of the town as tourists and trainers with pokémon walked by stopping along the antique shops. Being relaxed today I let pride become my primary emotion as I noticed people regarding her very healthy form. Fahrenheit was sitting on his haunches with his arms crossed in front of her on the stone ground as I saw him conversing with Celsius. I also took pride once I saw trainers look his way probably admiring his fit physic and clean fur coat, only downside was the long scar down his side and underbelly where almost no cream fur grew but it was hard to notice the bear line. Besides he actually immediately accepted it as a sign of bravery and loyalty being a war scar.

After weaving my way through the traffic of people I took a seat next to Celsius.

"Sir, Celsius strongly believes that story from 500 years ago, the one you summarized in the museum. I honestly don't believe that really happened because, being a fire type with common sense," he teased gesturing towards Celsius, "I know it would have to take a lot of geological power to cause the water levels to change like how you described it. It just sounds too impossible."

"Hah, you're just too faithless to believe, that's why. You know that's true Master."

"Well, like I said I based that story after reading all of those notes from the museum. It's up to whatever you want to believe," I concluded, "Oh and I got you two some ice cream by the way; almost forgot," I added casually handing Celsius a tall cone of ice cream and setting a small bowl in front of Fahrenheit while I began licking my own barely catching a drip from falling on my clothes.

"Master, you got us ice cream? How neglectful!" Celsius smiled with a surprised open beak knowing I don't serve pokémon human food often, but this occasion happens to be one of those times. Also, her smile happens to be the first I've witnessed in my life as a blaziken almost bringing a smile to me but never the less shear happiness, and I even felt my cheeks warm up from the positive image of bringing happiness to her which felt... kind of weird but in a good way.

"Yeah… it's been a while since you've had some, and… I mean we're basically on vacation right now so why not?" I shuddered in front of her honestly not knowing why myself. I know there's always some expensive ice cream back at the mansion but I want to get my pokémon something special like signature ice cream from Alto Mare which delights Celsius which makes me feel… good.

"I still can't fully believe that story, sir," Fahrenheit continued tapping his chin with one of his petite digits, "It's entertaining but just too unbelievable. You really expect me to believe that… defense mechanism thing was made in the thirteenth century and no one truly knows how it was powered whether it was aura or legendary pokémon but it would have to be powerful enough to supply electricity to Goldenrod City for weeks? Where would the engineers go to mend all that steel, and I don't think a small dragon pokémon could contain all that power, so this whole thing can't be real."

"Latias and Latios are real, genius. I heard some photographers got some pictures of them before."

"Nope, the pictures were probably made from a computer. That orb Soul Dew thing is probably just some mineral. They're just legends! Sir, do you believe any legendary pokémon exist?"

Eating my ice cream I actually put some thought into his question. In all honesty, I am very lucky and fortunate to still be alive and have my pokémon even though I have had some bad history. It's remarkable that I am still alive, and me having aura sometimes does question my faith. My family taken away from me, my pokémon being my last support raises controversy in my beliefs. "Your ice cream is melting."

"Oh yeah…what is this anyway?" he asked looking at the liquefying desert then back at us.

"What, you've never had ice cream! Oh wait, you were never around when I was just a torchic, that's right. Well trust me, you have to try it, you'll like it!" Celsius smiled making me happy to see the two get along better than ever; something I barely saw back then.

As Fahrenheit's tongue slowly drew closer to the ice cream it began melting around that spot at a faster rate from the heat around his body. He licked it timidly then backed off and swirled his tongue around to survey the taste. After a few seconds he started lapping up the sweet treat greedily as if he hasn't had water for weeks, and within seconds his muzzle was already deep in the bowel.

"Told you it'd be good. Though I don't think it's a good idea if you eat it that fast…" Celsius added giggling.

"It's okay he'll learn to slow down once the brain freeze hits him," I said before beginning to eat my ice cream, "Glad you liked it, Fahrenheit."

"Brain freeze? What's a…" His curious expression turned into a pained one as he was experiencing his first brain freeze. He even began reacting by hopping around and flailing his paws almost over exaggeratedly finally laying down to grasp his head causing Celsius and even me to be put in a laughing fit.

Yes, it's a good transition right now today at this very moment. Here I am laughing and having fun with my pokémon! It's something I haven't been able to do in possibly over a year; maybe even longer. Just thank Arceus everyone is dismissed the whole day to do their own things where I chose to show my pokémon around with the hefty budget I was given. Now I'm not dressed like an assassin; I'm just wearing casual clothing consisting of a white long sleeve shirt with a black T-shirt over having various yellow stencil designs around with dark navy blue jeans and black and white sneakers. However, I am wearing armor under everything and still armed and dangerous if provoked. Of course I also have the white handkerchief wrapped around my left ankle acting almost like a fortunate charm I carry all the time outside the mansion which remarkably has not been damaged or dirtied. To add to the huge difference from our normal lives, we're out in the streets of Alto Mare sitting in front of the historical museum of Alto Mare blending in with the normal crowds around us. It makes me feel almost like a pokémon trainer which is something I've always used to think about doing. I may have hit the legal age to become one but I'm prohibited by my enemies, so my true mission today is to give my pokémon the best time of their lives. So far, I'm successful for I have never seen the two act this way before it's actually very heartwarming and relieving.

The city is just like the brochures. Stone made up most of the walkways, many alleys bordered small canals, and the ancient renaissance architecture of neighboring structures brought out the life of this city with its various colors. Many historic tourists' attractions filled up the streets being fountains, parks, landmarks, shops, and much more. However, as I rested on the bench observing the scenery around I couldn't help but wish I was here with my parents. I can't possibly bring them up in front of Celsius reviving the past, so I just ate my ice cream holding in my raw anger I had towards the Don and appearing relaxed instead. Plus, I don't want to see Celsius or Fahrenheit saddened. This is actually the first time I got a glimpse of their true nature.

"Ohhhh…crap my head feels so sore!" Fahrenheit wined with his paws still circling his temples.

"I was about to warn you, but you weren't listening," she teased as I chuckled at the activity in front of me, "You're so oblivious."

"I'm not oblivious, just the type to learn from mistakes like Master said."

"Hah, you are too oblivious. You can't even tell that Jewel is trying to advance onto you."

"What, advance as in Jewel likes Fahrenheit?" I asked looking up from my advanced smart phone, handed out by the Don specially customized for us assassins, after trying to research other events going on before the major event of the day.

"Yeah, you should see how she acts towards Fahrenheit when M-4's not around."

"Heh, that's probably why she's been wandering away from M-4 lately; she's going into heat."

"Exactly! Thank you. Though I have to say, for being in heat she's still in pretty good control of herself."

The quilava's cheeks began reddening as he shuffled around his spot. "N-no, that's not true. It's just because I was so drugged while in intensive care, she revived me so I hugged her and… and said that stuff. She's told me no male in this mansion has ever showed that kind of appreciation, let alone that kind of attention."

"Tauros…" Celsius argued.

"Yeah…besides, probably won't be a good idea to make cubs right now. They'll be given to the other assassins," I added, "Plus, we're not even supposed to be getting close to them. Remember guys…" I sighed not wanting to bring our true occupation out, "They're the enemy, and they will always be the enemy."

I watched as their expressions grew serious before they both nodded, "Yeah, he's right Celsius; guess it's good to act oblivious after all," he smirked at her.

"Oh whatever, but if she was available you'd still wouldn't know. Face it; you're just oblivious when it comes to females Fahrenheit. Speaking of which, here comes your 'mate' right now," Celsius joked as we looked towards our approaching acquaintances.

Since M-4's job is to be Garand's escort he's also present for the "assignment" we were given. He approached us wearing charcoal, slightly baggy jeans and a simple red T-shirt bordered white along the trims. Jewel casually walked beside him appearing normal with her swaying pronged tails and her long ears pitched halfway down. He greeted me with a friendly, informal handshake but his expression wasn't as positive as it normally was. Usually he's wearing his trademark confident smile.

"Eating ice cream, huh?" he spoke sitting next to me.

"Yep, want me to get you a cone or-"

"Naw, I'm not in to that."

"Heh, not into what? Its ice cream," I snickered.

"Exactly, you still know we're on a fuckin' assignment and not a vacation, right?" he questioned almost appearing threatening.

"Yeah, I know but come on. I haven't had time to connect with my pokémon. The Don gave everyone permission to relax for the day."

"So, we're still assassins. We gotta constantly get off our asses and look out for shit even if it's time to relax. Be ready in a minute's notice."

"Dude look," I spoke trying to remain calm from his demeanor, "My pokémon and I have been through a shitload of crap for a very long time, okay. This is probably the only opportunity I'm going to get to bring their mood back up. Come on, they've seen things no one should ever witness and you know that."

"The only thing I know is that that's pussy talk! Dialga, don't you understand that we're supposed to be trained to tough that shit out including our pokémon, I thought you were a beast M-14. Right now, you look like a faggot trainer from... Pallet Town or some shit."

I looked at Celsius and Fahrenheit who also listened to M-4 but I could tell his words were making them feel uncomfortable. "Well fuck, have you ever thought of sitting down and thinking for a second about getting a break from doing what we do? We may be killers…but we're still human!"

"Hell no, there's no time for that tauros shit! You think you've been through a lot, shit you haven't seen nothing. Look the point is you're supposed to be on your fucking feet at all times," he concluded almost angrily as he walked away from us with Jewel following where I noticed her head was draped down.

"You don't know what I've been through, Jose, you should act like a normal kid for once instead of some a fucking machine, asshole!" I called out. His quick response was a backwards salute with his middle digit up where a couple tourists glanced curious from the drama. "Arceus damn, I worry about some of these assassins you know," I commented to my pokémon, "Are we the only ones that see the bad side of what we do?" I saw Jewel run out of the alley where she followed M-4 through.

She stopped in front of us saying as she shook her head in shame, "I'm sorry, Master and I have never really experienced a childhood before. It was taken away at the age of five so he sees things through his perspective and understands nothing else." I could only glance at her trying to process what she said completely becoming disgusted by what he may have experienced. I could only sit back and partially imagine how M-4 became what he is now as Jewel took a last look at us before running back to M-4.

The three of us sat there in silence with only the major traffic of people around us creating any noise on this busy street. I sighed going back to my depressed state but trying to hide my expression. "Poor M-4, poor Jose…" I looked at Celsius and Fahrenheit and they were nodding gloomily. I couldn't help but think about what will happen to the three of us when I finally kill the Don and everyone involved with him. I only had to think for a couple seconds coming to conclusion of how things will have to end with no escape from consequences. "There's no word that can show how sorry I am for putting the both of you in my spot."

"Master, don't blame yourself. We chose to assist you because we want this to end too," Celsius added as Fahrenheit nodded strongly.

"Mmm…Then if you two do truly accept and understand what we have to do I guess here's to the last ever fun childhood memory," I declared holding up my half melted ice cream in the air as Celsius held hers up while Fahrenheit brought his bowl up to the center with his fore paws. "Okay, the Tour De Alto Mare is still in a few hours. Let's go to the gondolas!" I declared bringing back the positivity.

"Yes sir!" they both approved happily.

"Ladies and Gentleman, it's a fantastic day for Alto Mare's famous annual event: The Water Chariot Festival, welcome to the Tour De Alto Mare race!" the speakers resonated beyond the canals, "We have many trainers participating in the race, come on and give them a round of applause!"

The crowd below was booming below from where I was sitting. The Don sent all the elites and his two assassins a message to escort him to a VIP balcony that overlooks the starting line of the race where we all observed. Celsius sat next to me while Fahrenheit rested on my back and shoulders as I sat in front of the Don. M-4 was seated in front of Garand with Jewel on the next chair. I looked at the trainers who were about to compete and there were around a dozen lining up at the starting line standing on gondolas with their water pokémon ready to tow. "Wow, finally we're here to watch this event in person! You two excited?"

"You know I am. I have always wanted to come here with you to watch this event," Celsius answered.

"So, trainers ride on those gondolas while their water types pull them through the race. To hell with that," Fahrenheit observed.

"Yes, these pokémon have been training for a while though, it must be challenging to pull and for the trainer to keep in control through the water at sharp turns." While we talked the trainers took off on their course with the announcer alerting the crowd that the race has begun. I watched them make it all the way to their first corner. "Don sir, may I be excused to view their current position at the other side?" I asked the Don.

He coolly approved it so I got up with my pokémon and ran down the stairs to get to the other side of the race before they passed. The announcer kept on announcing the situations of the race and I heard him say that last year's champion Alex Montello with his feraligatr was in the lead followed by Ryan Koch and his golduck. We ran through the walkways trying to get to the other spotting points, but out of the corner of my eye I caught a few figures in another alley on the way to our destination causing me to stop and investigate.

"Is something wrong Master?" Fahrenheit inquired.

"I think I just saw Team Rocket. Get behind me; uniform positions." They followed my order and lined up behind me as we crept up against a wall evenly.

"Wait, why would Team Rocket be in Alto Mare, unless if Giovanni was here…" Celsius questioned.

"No, I haven't heard of him coming here to meet the Don." I peaked around the corner. I was right; there were some TR grunts dressed in business casual clothing only with the red "R" insignia on their shirts in front of a closed café getting orders from what appeared to be two women, one with very long golden colored hair that's styled into giant curls no lower than her shoulders also with bangs cut towards the side covering her left eye almost like mine but hers being more feminine, and the other with shorter carolina blue hair layered covering her forehead with the sides styled up and out almost resembling horns. "Annie and Oakley, what the hell are those two spies doing here!" I yelled but only audible enough for Celsius and Fahrenheit.

Everyone has heard of Annie and Oakley within Team Rocket and the elite ranks of the Feliciano Family. I've seen them in person once when all assassins were evaluated by Giovanni. They're the top spies for Team Rocket carrying the latest technology and are very highly trained, but they only search for extremely powerful weapons with deadly intentions. What can they be doing in Alto Mare? The grunts and the two spies left, so I decided to investigate in this empty alley. I hate Team Rocket enough to sabotage an operation of theirs doing some good. We walked over to where they had stood and looked around hoping to find some useful information. I looked at some of the café tables. As I had hoped I found a journal on the table.

"Anything significant, sir?" Fahrenheit asked as I flipped the cover page finding it belonged to Oakley.

"Alex Montello is the winner of this event Ladies and Gentleman. That was a close race as-" I blocked out the rest of the announcement as I read through the journal trying to find intel to disrupt.

"Great, those two whores just made us miss the race, Master," Celsius complained.

I kept on previewing the contents in this note filled journal. A title called "Annie and Oakley: Project Soul Dew" stuck out in the first few pages.

"Soul Dew…" I flipped through some more pages until I got halfway through the journal where it was empty. I can conclude that they're searching for an artifact, like Team Rocket always does, and it's the Soul Dew that they want, the very same jewel to power the DMA. The notes say that they need the jewel in order to power that devise, but first they need either a Latias or Latios…

"Latias and Latios, DMA!"

"Latias and Latios?" Celsius asked.

"Aww great, more legendary stories. So these guys think they're real too," Fahrenheit commented.

"This journal says they're trying to find the Soul Dew but first they need the legendary Latias and Latios to track it down and at the same time power that weapon. Shit, if they find those pokémon only Arceus knows what they might do to them and what they will do with the DMA." As I looked through more pages I felt something poking and even caressing my left shoulder. "Yes… Celsius, what is it?" I looked to my left where I saw no one my level but Fahrenheit down at my feet.

"I'm right here Master." I turned back around to see she was to my right.

"Yeah, funny," I began sarcastically, "Now's not the time to fool around, Celsius. I'm trying to find out more about their aims," I assumed thinking she was just joking around by reaching around to my shoulder.

"What, I didn't even touch you," She protested. After she said that I felt the same touching again.

"Yeah, is that why I felt it again?" I looked through more of the pages and ignored Celsius' protesting.

"Hehe, maybe it's Latias and Latios in their so called invisible coat," Fahrenheit laughed before suddenly cutting off, "Whoa, not to change my views, but as soon as I said did any of guys just feel a particular warm breeze run up your back… or was that just me?" I saw Fahrenheit step forward with a raised eyebrow.

"Let's get out of here before we're spotted," I told getting annoyed by my pokémon playing tricks with me. As we walked out I continued summarizing the journal. "Okay, okay. They know where to find the pokémon; it's probably TS but it's what they believe. As of right now they're looking for a giant garden, and it says if they find that garden then they find not only the pokémon, but the Soul Dew also. However, they've used every kind of satellite feed to find a massive garden on the island but they didn't find one. That's probably why they just left. Hell, I hope they come up empty handed."

"The Soul Dew is an orb that contains the soul of Latios right, then why do they need that orb? If they want to power the DMA all they need is just Latias and Latios which will save them less burden," Celsius added.

"I don't know. The notes at the museum say that but these people believe otherwise. We have to get rid of this journal before they find that garden and the pokémon. That way we might stall them since this contains a lot of clues. You two do the honors." I dropped the journal on the ground where Fahrenheit ignited the book with the flames off his neck as Celsius barraged the book with a Fire Blast. That should throw Annie and Oakley off track for now.

"Wow, I wish I could see the looks on their faces when they figure out their journal just got wasted," Fahrenheit chuckled.

"Hell yeah, that would be too hilarious, but hopefully that can just stop them all together, hopefully. Oh and watch the intensity next time Celsius! Don't have to put that much power to burn a book," I warned. I was sweating from the intense heat they only discharged for a couple seconds. It was so hot that there were still ripples in the air as I looked over head. Eh, it still can't be that hot to cause the air to ripple can it? As a matter of fact the air around me was cooler but there was still some kind of distortion stationary in the air. Out of curiosity I reached up to put my hand through the ripples but felt some kind of obstruction instead. "What the hell!" I jumped retracting my arm back not expecting some kind of blockage at all.

"What is it?" both Fahrenheit and Celsius asked simultaneously, Fahrenheit getting in a low stance with the pelt in the back of his neck sticking up.

"Something was just above us. Look!" I looked back up only to find the air stable. I even reached up to feel around and nothing was there. "Something was there, I swear."

"Hah, maybe it was your legends," Fahrenheit chuckled.

"Holy shit, maybe it was…" I spoke astounded as I put a lot of thought into the possibilities of that happening.

"Oh… uh I was just joking, you're acting crazy right now Master."

"Yeah, you're just stressing over this whole situation. We burnt the journal so that'll stop their operation. I know you care for those legends but it should be over now," Celsius reassured.

"Yeah… maybe you're right. I just want to absolutely make sure. You know, what if one day I chase those spies down these alleys myself and get Latios killed or something or have this whole city nearly destroyed overnight because I didn't stop them now; that would be bad on my part. Not saying that would happen but I'm just making sure." As persistent as Team Rocket is it's hard to completely stop their goals.

Almost half an hour after the discovery Celsius, Fahrenheit, and I wandered some more around the city checking out some more attractions. The Don had dismissed everyone so M-4 went to go do his own thing along with the other grunts.

"Hey, you with the two fire type pokémon!" I turned around to see a teenager around the same age as M-4 approaching me. I recognized the person as one of the contenders of the Tour De Alto Mare Race, Ryan Koch. "Just wanted to say you got some nice pokémon there."

Not knowing how to react because I've heard of certain trainers that like pokémon only for strength like to trade a lot I took a moment to think about how to respond. I've also never been approached by a skilled trainer before so this feeling is foreign. "Thanks, you're that one trainer that almost won, right? You did a good job out there."

"Thanks, but don't thank the trainer. All we do is call out commands, thank the pokémon that actually do all the physical work." He looked like a normal stereotype trainer that people would expect. On his back was a big brown backpack with a sleeping bag rolled on top of it. His hair was brown and a little unkempt, he wore an orange T-shirt with some red patterns around the sides, also wore beige cargo pants, and then to top it off he had sneakers on.

However, even though he looks like a typical pokémon trainer, I was surprised by his response. As soon as he finished I knew that his thoughts on pokémon are the same as mine, and judging from his posture he wasn't willing to be an ass. "Yeah, you're exactly right. Wow, trainers like you are rare," I grinned lightly.

"What, you mean people that actually do care about all Pokémon? I know what you mean. It's cool to finally meet another trainer that understands the feelings of their companions. For example, I think I saw your pokémon hours ag too 'cause you like to keep them out of their pokéballs," he replied expressing friendliness.

"Hell yeah, Master's awesome!" Fahrenheit bragged even though the trainer just probably interpreted his quilava cries as joyous ones.

"Hey, I think it's good to meet trainers that care too, the name's… Rayn by the way," I said knowing it was okay to give him my real name, "And this blaziken is Celsius, quilava is Fahrenheit."

"Rayn, just like the weather rain, never heard a name like that before."

"Yeah…" I spoke knowing he was stating the obvious.

"So I see you're a trainer with a Blaziken and a Quilava that'll be a Typhlosion soon, and they're both well kept. That must mean you've been to both regions, must be a huge experience."

"A trainer… Y-yeah, thanks, but I'm actually new to training. Trust me I've had these guys for years. And, for some reason both my pokémon like to be groomed. Whenever we're near a source of water they always beg for me to bathe them, which is kind of unusual for fire types," I replied making a couple things up as I went.

"You damn right! I get straight to my knees and beg Master, he gets me so wet-" Celsius blurted out to which I looked over with a surprised, confused expression as I heard Fahrenheit burst out in laughter. Celsius gets what when I what? "Oh shoot, just 'cause that trainer can't understand us…Oh sh-don't worry Master I was trying…to be funny when bragging about how awesome you are!" I ignored her embarrassed appearance trying to not get uncomfortable by how much my pokémon like me.

"Wow, Celsius you can be one dirty, horny thing when given the chance," I heard Fahrenheit laugh before quickly switching my attention back to my new friend.

"Yeah, that is unusual. I like how both of your pokémon are so friendly with each other. If you're new then know a great team needs a lot of support from all members."

"Yeah… I'll take that advice…" I spoke hesitantly trying to block out Celsius cursing towards Fahrenheit in what sounded like anger, "They sure are great pals," I smiled nervously.

"I actually wouldn't mind purchasing one of their cubs, they would be a perfect breeding couple; two fire type starters."

"Hah, not in a million years," Celsius called out.

"Whoa, you can actually tell the gender differences!" I replied in amazement that this trainer knows his material.

"Of course, a trainer should know pokémon anatomy if they're to connect with them, right? Celsius looks like tough competition in a Beauty Contest. And your quilava looks very cool in a Tough Contest." Celsius got back by my side smiling probably from his comment before winking at me differently taking me by huge surprise; her wink appeared kind of cute too in her new form...something I've never seen since they're both acting strange. "So you specialize in fire or something? I'm a water type guy myself."

"Actually, I'm not sure what I specialize at. These are my only pokémon with me right now so I can't tell yet. Like I said, I'm still new." Actually the funny thing is all the pokémon I ever had were fire types which were Lithium, Celsius, and Fahrenheit. "So you specialize in water. You know you have a good pokémon too, your Golduck was great out there."

"Thank you, but hang on. If you're new how come you have two fully evolved starters?"

"Oh…long story, basically my father new some breeders and I trained them personally myself."

"Ah, well you know we should battle and test their strength and your leadership. I won't choose a water type and it'll be one-on-one. Let's see how well your pokémon can battle," he said confidently unclipping a pokéball from his trainer's belt.

Heh, I saw that question coming. If a strong trainer sees strong pokémon with another trainer then that question is bound to pop up. Even though I did see it coming, I haven't made a choice yet. "What do you two think?" I asked so I was sure everyone was okay with a battle. They both nodded causing a smile to grow on my face, a smile of joy and determination I have not felt since the little leagues. "Alright let's do this!" My first official "Big-kid" pokémon battle, a mixture of anxiety and excitement filled my mind. I was excited to battle the real way for the first time instead of the little leagues, but at the same time I was nervous because I don't know any strategies and both of my fire types only know how to grill someone to a crisp or sever a limb, but that lethal to non-lethal transitioning training we do daily should pay off. "Okay, any attack I call out must be nonlethal, understood?" I whispered to my two pokémon.

"Don't worry we know how to control our powers," Celsius answered confidently.

They should know how because I spend hours with them training and one of the exercises is controlling the intensity of their attacks. A nonlethal Flame Thrower can just leave singed spots of fur and skin which are temporary burns easily treatable while a lethal flamethrower can burn bear to the flesh. Nonlethal Swift Attack can cause scratches and broken skin while a lethal one can dismember limbs. Basically this can switch my pokémon from battle mode to combat mode anytime.

"You ready?" as soon as Ryan asked that question people of five or ten around us looked towards our direction and many of the people recognized the close winner of the recent race event. This gave me huge anxiety since I've never battled in front of a large crowd of strangers before, but if I can handle a huge taunting audience during a fight to the death then I should handle this.

"Oh yeah, I'm ready for this," I lied. I felt so nervous. I heard some of the people around us call out Ryan's name. How can I be nervous at a battle when I'm not even nervous to aim a gun at a target? I have no trouble killing people but when it comes to battles…

"Okay which pokémon will you battle with?"

Hmm, Fahrenheit can use some experience. "I choose you Fahrenheit! Just do your best and listen out for my commands."

"Hell yes sir! If I win this then I should finally evolve; I can feel that power!" He stepped out yards away from me crouching low to the ground in a fighting stance with his flames ignited and meandering across his body. He looked like he was ready to pounce as he lowered his stance forward to give himself maximum balance and agility. He was very confident.

"Oh Arceus," Celsius said rolling her eyes, "He's never battled before but he expects to win against an experienced trainer?"

"He may have never battled but he knows how to use his attacks and dodge whenever he needs to."

"If you say so," Celsius finished as she stood back.

I watched Ryan unclipping a pokéball holding it all the way out as he simply dropped the ball letting it bounce back up then burst open. After the rays of flashing light stopped I saw the silhouette figure of a pokémon Fahrenheit had faced not so long ago.

"Oh shit…" Fahrenheit and I spoke almost simultaneously.

The pokéball closed on its own and flew towards Ryan's left hand. After the ball landed in his hand the form began turning into blood red color, the insect wings began fluttering, and then the pokémon clamped its claws a few times before getting in a fighting pose. That Scizor, female, is probably reminding Fahrenheit of that day... I was right because I saw Fahrenheit take a quick look at his scar before forming a nervous look on his face. The good thing is we have a type advantage and there's no drive to kill.

"Fahrenheit you got this!" I told to him.

Fahrenheit still kept his stance but I saw him tremble slightly. The Scizor's pose had her right clamp guarding her chest while her left claw was out stretched out front. She hovered in front of her trainer awaiting orders. Ryan and I stared each other down for several seconds, but before I made a command someone called out my fake name.

"Jon, kick his ass! Come on, do something!" M-4 called from behind me, but I didn't bother looking back.

"Come on Fahrenheit you can do it! Don't be intimidated!" Jewel called out to only her personal telepathic contacts including myself making Fahrenheit shake harder now that his "crush" was watching him battle.

I kept thinking about what attack to do but thinking won't help me now. "Screw it! Fahrenheit use Flame Wheel on her now!" I commanded almost a little shakily pointing at his target.

"Just like old times!" Fahrenheit responded before sprinting then somersaulting into a continuous, fast roll out with a trail of fire following towards his target.

Not even a second after my command, Ryan commanded his pokémon to use agility to dodge. The Scizor began to disappear then reappear in various spots around Fahrenheit confusing him. It was confusing me too as the Scizor became a blur after each second.

"Shit," I muttered under my voice. If I'm correct Ryan will command her to counter. "Uh… quick Fahrenheit use Lava Plume just a foot around your area!" Fahrenheit stood in his spot closing his eyes causing the ground around his perimeter to glow orange brightening as time passed. Red hot searing lava shot up in a circular formation ten feet above and around Fahrenheit putting him in a safe spot. Just as I thought the Scizor reappeared right in one of the lava plumes before she knew the attack was initiated and got damaged badly. "Hah, great job Fahrenheit!" I cheered followed by Jewel. The Scizor was now visibly scorched on her right leg and parts of her chest.

"Hah, you're pretty good at coordinating attacks, and he's good at following, but this is just the beginning! Use Razor Wind!" Ryan ordered his Scizor.

The Scizor swiped the air with her left than right claw. The results were thin but high pressured air pockets flying at high speeds towards Fahrenheit. He had a quick reaction though and dashed forward through the lava plumes just in time for the Razor Wind to crater the cobble stones that were below his feet. Before Fahrenheit could aim his next move at the Scizor though, I saw her speeding towards him in an inclined dive at high speeds with her red forehead glowing pure white in an Iron Head attack. I warned Fahrenheit but it was too late as her head collided directly to Fahrenheit's head blasting him a few feet towards the crowd as the Scizor took back towards the skies. Fahrenheit was knocked back a few feet but immediately got back up where I saw a huge red mark on his head.

"Quick, use Smoke Screen!" I quickly commanded getting in the hang of battling. Fahrenheit began exhaling an endless plume of black smog from his muzzle filling the air around him with smoke causing the crowd to back up more.

"Swords Dance, Scizor!" The bug pokémon twirled her arms in coordination with her limbs crossing the other a couple times in an elegant dance where I heard several sounds of metal clanking on each other and even sharp objects shearing against metal which were only her clamps.

"Do it, Breach and Clear, Fahrenheit!"

"Breach and Clear? What kind of move is…"

Soon enough the ground began shaking as several orange spots began appearing around the perimeter of the smoke. All of the sudden more lava shot out of the ground showering the area. Scizor hovered low enough to get caught in the shower of molten rock. Then with Fahrenheit in front of me out of the screen of smoke he shot a Swift Attack towards the scizor who was still getting pelted by the lava rain. The effect was the golden stars striking her body dissipating into thin air but still creating a lot of damage. The great string of commands to execution really made me cry out happily making me feel I was actually born to be a successful pokémon trainer.

"Damn, you're harder than I thought. Scizor use agility to evade the lava then strike with an accurate Razor Wind from above!" Ryan ordered.

Scizor maneuvered effectively within the fire arena before finally hovering over the plumes immediately firing a shot of wind and then another. By this time the plumes stopped leaving scorched rock, so Fahrenheit kept dodging until I told him to jump from under Scizor and use swift at the right moment. However, my timing was horribly off since Scizor countered by slamming her claw down onto Fahrenheit's skull delivering his body to the cobble stones below him with shear force. He got up slower than before this time coughing from being really winded.

"Fahrenheit, you have to recover and move quick!" Fahrenheit did as I told shaking off the pain only to be hit with a Razor Wind forcing him back down though. Now I saw his physical appearance weaken with signs of cuts and battered fur as well as exhausted movements. Seeing him get hurt badly by his phobia had me worried and thinking really fast. That's it I have to use a last desperate attack. Knowing he's the one physically fighting with me only giving commands from the sides it's best to have him judge his next attacks. "Fahrenheit, go free style!" I yelled to him.

Free Style is a method I train my pokémon to use when my judgment is not best especially when things get too tough in combat or battle. Fahrenheit quickly jumped to his paws on my call evading another Razor Wind, and then called lava up from the ground. The mega hot orange sludge shot up from his left side beneath the Scizor but the attack delay made her dodge. Then Fahrenheit dashed through the lava, jumped up to hit her chest again in a rolling fireball. I could tell he was in some pain but through gritted teeth and alert eyes he was determined to win. I watched him battle being ready to warn for a sign of danger. The scizor was now very weak and could barely keep control in flight which caused me to cheer my Pokémon strongly who now had the upper hand but only barely. One more hit with intense heat should do it.

"I have never seen a strategy like that... That pokémon is actually commanding himself?" Ryan commented. "Scizor, grab him!"

Scizor was on the ground now tightly snapping her clamps in aggravation. I saw Fahrenheit become eager to attack so he sprinted towards her until getting in range for a Swift. However she quickly side stepped out of the way of his sharp stars only to get chipped in the foot but she successfully landed next to my quilava grabbing him with her clamps. She had Fahrenheit in her grasps with her right claw then swiped towards him with her left delivering a Razor Wind at point-blank range kicking Fahrenheit several yards away. Fahrenheit got up then literally froze in fear as Scizor ran towards him with a claw drawn far back.

"Fahrenheit, don't give up! Fight through, you can do it!" Jewel cried out.

He was gripped around his abdomen again and held in the air! What I saw on his face were gaping eyes, flattened ears, and gritting canines as he stared at the crimson clamps in front of him not given any other choice but to face her up close. Then the finishing blow came as the Scizor cut him perpendicular across his scar not using any given attack but just the sharp point of her weapon. He got thrown by the force rolling to a stop near me. He struggled to get up but then trembled violently not in pain but from his eyes glancing at his scar in raw fear of being reminded of that moment he nearly died.

Thinking about his fear I made my final decision. "Call her off, this match is over!" I yelled running over to Fahrenheit and holding him down.

"No, I'm not finished yet sir!" he growled.

Ryan called his Scizor back into her ball shortly followed by applause by the bystanders to which I blocked off.

"I'm not going to put so much stress on your psyche, Fahrenheit," I told him.

"But I wasn't done yet!" he demanded shakily as I held him down with a hand.

"Good judgment to call the battle off," I heard Ryan speak as he approached us, "Will he be okay?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it. Here's your due," I responded handing him some of my budget knowing trainers reward each other with currency, "Thanks for the battle. Nice win, it was pretty thrilling but I guess I have to train myself you know." I checked over Fahrenheit's body seeing if anything was broken since I'm prepared for the worse but nothing showed other than what I spotted on the field earlier.

"No prob. You were actually a good challenge and that's rare on my part. You give really good commands but you kind of over judge at some points which you gotta be careful because the opposing pokémon can hear you too .Maybe we'll meet again sometime. Until then, I hope you keep practicing."

I got up to properly shake his hand before saying our goodbyes as he disappeared into traffic and thinking about his last words. Becoming a trainer, I had everything I needed but I just can't register…

Minutes after the battle the three of us walked to the nearest café that had little activity going on so I could have Fahrenheit recover properly. I placed a paper bowl filled with water down in front of him before sitting down in a chair. That was my first actual battle and it was against someone experienced too which actually feels kind of honorable. I took out a healing potion I had brought along with from the yacht incase this assignment actually became an assignment and sprayed around Fahrenheit's small wounds as he lapped up the water.

"Don't worry Fahrenheit; it was your first battle. I'm so proud of how you did out there!" I cheered scratching his neck seeing he wasn't in the best mood.

"Why did you stop me?" he asked disappointedly.

"Because I saw how stressed out you were getting by just facing a Scizor. I don't want you to lose yourself out there."

"But I thought you always advocate to never give up, and when I heard Jewel out there cry out to keep fighting through!" he nearly yelled almost getting upset causing me to scratch his ears more to calm him down.

"Because don't you understand that was just your first battle?" Celsius told, "You faced a hard pokémon that you have a personal fear for, so if you kept fighting through who knows what would've happened to your head. Battling is a different language. It requires more coordination, obedience, and in our case a lot of resistance. And also to add, I have to admit, you weren't too bad."

"Well…thanks for the support. I just hate quitting out like that and throwing in the towel. What does Jewel think about me doing that now?" he questioned worriedly.

"See I knew you like her!" Once she blurted that out he growled lowly as well as blushed a little causing me to smile over the image. "Don't worry; she cheered you on to bring your spirits up which is what it's supposed to do. I'm sure she won't change even if you lost. 'Sides, I always see her glancing at you when she's around if that makes you feel any better," she smirked.

Celsius bringing up Fahrenheit's mood brought me more happiness, but out of nowhere I felt a hand grasp my shoulder causing me to jolt and look at the source. "Wow, I think you should just stick to sniping targets man," M-4 laughed as he took a sit in another chair around our table.

"Heh…Sometimes…" I trailed off thinking if I should get personal and tell M-4 how my thoughts are about child assassins killing random targets for the Don but then saw the danger, "You're a full time asshole, M-4."

"Well shit, that's what I'm best at. Jewel can kick your ass anytime in a battle," he sneered, "The hell are you even battling for? What's the point when we can't be trainers with Garand's hand up our asses?"

His words kicked me mentally once he reminded me that I would never be able to complete my ultimate dream. "I don't know, I guess just to try it." I looked towards Fahrenheit while musing over the future I threw away only wishing I could've expanded pokémon training even more with these guys. I noticed Jewel trying to support Fahrenheit.

"It was your first battle, that scizor probably has a year of experience on her belt. You could only do your best out there and you did," Jewel spoke.

"Yeah, but I didn't expect that kind of environment with so many people watching and limitations…"

"So, were you actually planning on becoming a pokémon trainer before 'cause you sound like you love this shit?" M-4 questioned.

"Yeah… I did," I sighed leaning forward on my chair, "I've always wanted to become a trainer, but seeing that I'm here that's not gonna happen."

"Trainers," he snickered, "Every punk ass trainer has the same goal and that's 'wanting to be the best or fucking be the pokémon master' or some stupid ass goal like that."

"Not me, if I did become a trainer I wouldn't want to be the best trainer in the nation. I would just battle and travel for fun and catch the pokémon that I've always wanted to have until I retire. I already have two of the many pokémon I want," I gestured towards Celsius and Fahrenheit. I've always wanted a blaziken and a typhlosion; crazy coincidence.

"Wow, so if you've had that dream, do you like the Don if he took all that away from you?"

"The hell would you question my loyalty like-" I was abruptly interrupted by everyone being startled by a distant yell for help, "The hell?"

"Shit, it could be one of our guys," M-4 pointed out looking at his smart phone probably picking up a grunt's icon on the screen nearby.

M-4 and I with our pokémon rushed over to the next alley to see if one of ours was under attack. M-4 and I had our single handguns unconcealed out of our pants and in hand. Once we had got there though we stopped in our place frozen in complete hatred from the image of a trainer being restrained by none other than the Team Rocket grunts from earlier. Looking closer at the trainer with his hands and ankles bound together by rope and mouth taped over I recognized him as my friend and my opponent from earlier.

"Ryan!" I yelled unintentionally from the shock that befell me. When he heard me his eyes widened as he yelled, most likely calling for my help, but the duct tape muffled his calls. That caught the attention of one of the grunts causing one of them to turn towards the source of the call.

"Hey, you're those bratty assassins from the Feliciano Family," the grunt called causing another grunt to turn his attention.

"Pft, fuck that, better watch that mouth of yours," M-4 argued immaturely. Celsius, Fahrenheit, and Jewel began snarling at the group as I stared them down, but however M-4 and I placed our pistols back in concealment.

"Hey how about instead of trying to shit talk, little boy, get your asses over here and help shut this kid up," he ordered even though we're higher ranks than all five present grunts put together by comparison. "Secure all of his pokéballs you idiots. We don't want to keep them waiting," he ordered again but to his comrades.

"Fuck you, I should knock the shit out of all of you guys and free that kid so you'd all be screwed," M-4 replied back. When they weren't looking I actually took out my combat knife from my belt gripping it intentionally fueled by hatred. "What the f- don't stupid ass. We can't touch them." M-4 had put his hand over my knife lowering it.

I looked at Ryan feeling utterly helpless that I couldn't do anything to save him because of the business Team Rocket and the Don share. His bloodshot eyes viewed my way with plead and confusion probably frightened out of his life over what would happen to him and his pokémon. This trainer is getting bounded ready to get hauled away in a boat, but the obstacle of mutual business prohibited me from doing so and feeling so helpless and sick I fled the alley.

As I literally sprinted almost in tears away from that scene all I could think of was my useless self being a weapon only to inflict pain but not assistance. Fucking, Team Rocket! Why must they steal strong pokémon from innocent trainers who worked hard to attain that relationship!

"We can't do shit about it, M-14!" M-4 told me once he had caught up to me far from Team Rocket.

"No shit!" I yelled out in impulse before leaning against a wall bawling while hiding my face from everyone that was around. "We could've freed him but fucking Garand won't allow that! I feel so helpless man; I'm killing others, why can't I help for once?" I looked at M-4 then the three pokémon behind him seeing Celsius and Fahrenheit with worried looks.

"Shut up M-14, shut up! We are not heroes and you fucking know that," he told, "As assassins we get shit done for the Mafia. I thought you understood." Arceus damn, I only accepted becoming an assassin so that I could end the operation, not kill possibly innocent people. So much negative emotions and thoughts flooded my head about how corrupted I have truly become, and I can never change! There are no second chances; my fate is sealed.

"Move out of the way, boy!" I looked up from hearing a rather administrative feminine voice to see M-4 get shoved out of the way along with my pokémon stepping out of the way with glares at two familiar characters who were heading towards the direction where Ryan was getting subdued.

"Fuckin' bitches!" M-4 yelled out. "That's it, hold up. Annie has pissed me off too many damn times before," M-4 said to me before heading towards where the two spies were heading followed by Jewel who had no other choice.

"Wait, just leave them damn it!" I nearly scorned before giving in to his persistence after waiting for a response, "Fuck, come on guys, hopefully he won't get us in deep shit."

Once I had got near M-4 and Jewel with my pokémon in tow the blue hair spy being Oakley was already giving orders. "What is taking so long? Hurry up and secure him in the boat!"

"Hey, you fuckin' hoes with the big ass wigs!" he called out to the two spies causing me to involuntarily shake my head in pity from seeing him argue over the dumbest thing, "If you fuckin' ever put a finger on me again-"

"Now that's not how you're supposed to talk to cute, attractive women. We don't have any time to hear you whine and cry little assassin," Annie mocked, "You should go and run along back to your Don."

"Do I look like I'm six, grandma?" M-4 questioned.

"That's it I've had enough with those assassins," Oakley notified Annie before giving more orders, "Put the trainer and his pokéballs in my boat and continue the search for the targets. Remember to use thermal optics you idiots, they can be invisible!"

"Damn it!" M-4 spoke under his breath. "Well…I-I hope you both bleed from… getting ass raped by a gyarados!" he yelled back before walking over to me. He just wasted a minute of his life arguing and losing.

Seeing Oakley in a very pissed off mood actually brought a smirk to my face because I can just tell by how impatient she's being she's pissed about the lost journal; I can just feel that anger. "Really? That's your last comeback?"

"Shut up, I'd like to see you do something next time instead of leaving it all up to me, Dialga."

We both walked out of the channel of alleys into the bigger more populated walkways of the city. I was still putting myself down badly for deciding to not help Ryan; Arceus I could've at least tried but I have no power and just cowered out! Will I always be like this when an innocent person asks for help? Will I always be completely useless when coming to a good cause; I don't know why I ask but I still can't help wonder.

By now it was late afternoon. M-4 went with Jewel to do his own things while my pokémon and I went to go and visit some more attractions eventually marking the end of our trip.

Overall, it was a very interesting stay at the city. I've discovered so much about my pokémon and even myself. My pokémon do love and respect me. They understand why everything is shit in life at the mansion but still stay positive whenever the chance is given. Unfortunately, all I really discovered about myself is that I can't ever become a trainer and help out others from dire situations even though I have the skills and necessary tools but not the power…

We had left Alto Mare the next morning to Lilycove City then to Slateport by jet. Once we had gotten back, the atmosphere almost returned back to the same before we had left. The only difference was a lot of the depression was gone because my pokémon understand the energy I put into trying to lighten them up and that I did, and they fully understand it was my only opportunity which I wisely took. They are the only family I have after all: Celsius and Fahrenheit. No one else mattered to me in the mansion; not the assassins, not M-4, not even Jewel. In my eyes they're walking tauroseyes as fucked up as it seems, and soon I can strike.

The week we came back wasn't that busy for a change. There weren't a lot of assignments and the Don never really left the property, so I spent most of my time hanging out with the one person I trust more than anyone else but still considered an enemy. Yeah, M-4 and I usually play first person shooter games online with the rest of the assassins to kill time getting highly amused by the ridiculous amount of unrealism. He sees me as a friend but I don't. Does that bother me that I have to kill him? Yes it does, a lot, but I just have to cope with doing something as sick as deceiving since my soul is already doomed to hell or distortion world or wherever the corrupt go; I don't care anymore.

M-4 and I along with our pokémon were walking to his suite after a training exercise. Accompanying us were two elite grunts that needed ammo from him so they could continue their duties.

"Asking a kid for ammo, how sad," I commented playing along with M-4 with his jokes hearing our pokémon chuckle in response.

"You may be new M-14, and you may be the Don Father's escort, but just remember that we're your new daddies now," one of the grunts laughed, "All of you's assassins' parents might as well be dead."

"Fuck you," M-4 told sounding a bit aggressive like as if he got mad. Honestly, I got pretty pissed when he said that but I held in my urges to cut his insides out.

"Aww, did he offend you, Mr. Rivera," the other grunt taunted which I noticed he intentionally addressed M-4 by what I believe is his surname; something to never be used with any assassin here. "It's alright buddy, a brother of mine died during an assault on a big targeted estate three years ago. I know how you feel."

"Oh I know which hit you're talking about; I think I was there too! The…the…shit the fuckin'… Excal family! That whole family!"

"Yeah, you were there too!" they laughed triggering my insides to knot up hard upon actual enemies that were there mentioning that night! I actually stopped in my tracks without even noticing from the great realization of those mere words they spoke. I saw the same look in Celsius' eyes too from the revelation and Fahrenheit knew what we were thinking from his serious gaze.

"Aw fuck, here we go. We got grunts bragging about their 'adventures'. Ooh, so fuckin' amazing," M-4 spoke sarcastically though remaining serious. We entered M-4's suite so the grunts can get what they came for as Celsius, Fahrenheit, and I kept exchanging eye contact as if we were trying to read each other's thoughts on what we should do.

"Shut up, we're the adults here."

"That why you dumb fucks asking teens for some ammo?" M-4 responded taking a seat on his crimson red comforters hanging his sweater on the golden pillars at the corner of his bed frame standard for all of our suites.

"And being pretty Arceus damn immature about your so called 'authority'," I added with emphasis on authority, "So…you're brother was killed… that night?" I suddenly asked being hesitant of the answer but I had to know if it was my father.

"Yeah… poor little brother of mine," he spoke with a hint of sorrow making me laugh on the inside knowing that's what he deserved, "That bastard Excal engineer, CEO prick! I wanted to pay him back…but you damn assassins!" he spoke pointing towards me and M-4 which I got confused over, "M-60 had to deliver the final bullet. At least he made it hurt!" he finished smiling in the end.

"What the fuck…" I whispered painfully from my mind getting bombarded by the shocking information.

I couldn't help myself from containing my anger. I walked away from the grunts and M-4 to his back wall next to the purple curtains. M-60 killed my father! All of this overwhelming info was making me so uneasy I had to lean against the wall while facing away from everyone. I had so much anxiety from what to do and what to think my breaths were shaky and shallow. As I took deep breaths to calm myself I felt Celsius and Fahrenheit next to me probably worried about my condition.

"M-14, the hell's up with you?" M-4 asked.

"Nothing, just a little sore," I quickly answered still facing down his wall unable to control my breathing.

"Anyways, for you it was just one damn family member unlike what happened to me," M-4 continued but I had cut him off from my deep thoughts.

I now want to kill them all; right now! M-60, my father's killer, is not here, but damn it I want to kill him more than any other fucking piece of shit here now! I literally felt my balled fists quaking and my teeth crushing together I was so hurt right now from the scale of that massacre. Nearly about to have an anxiety attack on M-4's back wall I felt a hand cover my own hand at my side and looked to see it was actually Celsius' grey hand with her digits beginning to clasp in between mine catching me by surprise as she embraced my hand; something soothing I've never felt before by anyone. I looked at her which oddly had calmed me down some and saw her nod once as she smiled. I looked down at Fahrenheit on my other side and saw him do the same which caused me to smile malevolently. Knowing I had their support I was able to think clearly.

"Hey at least we got a piece of his wife," one grunt said which caused my ear to twitch from hearing those words as I froze against the wall with gaping eyes, "Arceus, she was an amazing piece of ass!"

Upon those words I left the wall, drew a knife from my belt and walked straight towards the grunt that spoke that. Knowing all assassins here are stronger than these fucks I shoved the full adult towards the wall behind him despite behind a half foot shorter than this guy and less built gripping his shirt as I kept pushing him against a counter top completely immobilize him seeing him surprised by what I was doing. "You sick fuck!" I screamed with the knife tip dangerously close to his eyeball as I incapacitated him so fast even my pokémon didn't know what the hell to do, "You mother fuckers raped my mother! Die!" Upon my final cry I brought my blade down onto his palm sticking it deep through the wooden counter feeling warm liquid sputter across my grip hearing him scream out in shear fright and agony making me smile so sinisterly before I drew out a second knife in reverse grip swinging it across effectively landing the blade across his face hearing a muffled scream as I just hammered the side of his face skewering him through both cheeks in quick succession. However, before I could deliver any more torture tools I got blinded by a high kick to the side of my face delivered from the other assassin in the room.

Trying to recover I rolled away from the group thankfully landing behind M-4's bed where my pokémon were at. Knowing I have just shot the first bullet of the war I drew out my single hand gun then quickly rose up only to see M-4's Bren Ten aimed at me with the unharmed grunt aiming the traditional uzi at me; the one I stabbed was trying to remove the knife from his face as I saw the blade protruding out his other check seeing the metal through his partly opened mouth.

"Your mother…what the fuck-the Excals…were your damned parents!" the armed grunt yelled.

"I've been waiting so, so, so damn long to do this to all of you," I laughed maniacally.

"I thought Perry Excal's son's name was Rayn. I've seen the Don's records of this shit before," M-4 spoke adjusting the grip on his pistols.

"My name is Rayn Excal, dumbass! Jon or Jonathan, whatever the fuck, was my fake name. I've been through some shit to come here and pay you all back for what you done that night. That's why I joined Mafia 14 so that I could kill each and everyone one affiliated with this family. My whole family's gone because of you guys!" I yelled feeling a tear roll down my face still aiming down my Mark V ready to begin my own mass killing tonight.

"This all makes fucking sense now. No one saw you that night, and you were also a main target too but got away luckily. Dude…I…I trusted you man."

"I cannot believe this! How did I not notice these intentions in any of your thoughts?" Jewel spoke telepathically as she was in a low stance. "It must be your aura!"

"The Don told us to leave no survivors when we raided that party!" the grunt yelled.

"Who cares you dumb fucks! He's right there, plug him!" the wounded grunt yelled spitting out blood as he got to the knife that nailed his hand to M-4's counter.

"Hah, I've worked hard to come here to murder the Don and kill all you sick fucks. I won't go down so easily. I want revenge!"

"I can't fucking believe it M-14, or should I call you Rayn, shit. It don't matter; you're going to die where you're standing right now, you and your pokémon. Dialga, you are one tough beast. I can't believe you were here all along trying to kill the Don. Fuck, the Don is gonna be pissed out of his mind when he hears his favorite assassin got a bullet in his thick skull 'cause he wanted to kill him. Just face it. It's you, Celsius, and Fahrenheit verses Me, Jewel, and dumb shit over here that should've killed your ass years ago."

"Heh…that makes three on three," I smirked. I took a quick look at Celsius whose wrists were flared intensely as she constantly kept snarling at the group. Fahrenheit was in a lower stance with his back and head igniting wildly.

"I'm sorry, Fahrenheit," Jewel spoke almost sounding emotionless. "I'll make it painless, I promise."

"Don't bother apologizing you cold ass slut! You never did care. We fucking never cared either," Celsius yelled which actually affected the espeon as I saw her flinch a bit even lowering her head before snarling at us more viciously than ever as she shed some tears.

I was getting desperate as I was running out of options. If I fire my powerful gun I won't have enough recovery time to just pick out the other grunt; this gun has a lot of kick back from launching a . Celsius and Fahrenheit know what to do in this kind of position without getting caught in the crossfire though so I should be good. "I have to kill my best friend in this entire mansion to get to my goal? I was actually starting to warm up to you. Fine, Fahrenheit I'm sorry but don't let Jewel distract you at all! Leave no survivors."

"Damn it, yes sir!" he called trembling a little. If Jewel was his crush then I know he's having a tough time right now because he has to kill her.

"Quit talking this useless tauros shit stupid ass. None of you are going to live. There's no such thing as a fucking one man army!"

The three of us were ready to counter our way out. Even if we can't reach the Don today because of an injury, then we'll reach him another time, but this is the best opportunity and I cannot miss it. Three verses three in an anxious showdown; the war was on.

To Be Continued


	11. Chapter 10

The List of 40

Just only a minute ago I received stomach turning news about what occurred during the last moments of my parents' lives. The information awakened more raw hatred for anyone involved with this family for I want them all to die slow and suffer further in hell. However, I realized what my impulse has gotten me into for now I'm trapped with my two pokémon by two armed people and an experienced Pokémon, and if the grunt I just wounded recovers he'll alert the whole property. If anything goes wrong my blood will get plastered complimenting the dark red comforters of the bed and red wood flooring. Fahrenheit was crying but was also in a fighting stance as Celsius snarled continuously at our enemies. I was ready for the counter that M-4 and the two grunts were about to receive.

"So come on. What are you waiting for, shoot me!" I yelled daring M-4 to pull the trigger. "Pull the trigger before I do first Jose."

"Does your punk ass seriously wanna die this fast?" M-4 threatened.

"Don't joke dude, I'm about to blow your fucking arms off," I threatened, "It's been cool, but I have to get you out of the way first."

As I kept M-4's head within my iron sight I felt Celsius creep up to my side, "M-Master…There's something that… I love you Master, I love you and I've always had and I don't want to go without letting you know how I feel about you!" she spoke to me very quickly sensing her anxiety.

"I know you do, I feel the same towards you," I told as I tightened my grip on the Mark V.

"No…Damn it I mean that I-"

"Come on M-4, plug him!" the injured grunt sputtered in the background.

"Uhh… No." All of a sudden M-4 turned around, aimed his pistol at the armed grunt and in a split second a shot was heard firing a round cleanly to its destination: the brain. Not exactly knowing what M-4 was planning, nor caring, I slowly advanced towards him remaining quiet with my pokémon following. I saw the injured grunt's jaw drop in complete alarm where M-4 drew a throwing knife from his belt chucking it expertly to the grunts face seeing blood splatter across his kitchen before he dropped with a thud to the burgundy wood flooring still having his hand nailed to the red wood island counter top. Seeing Jewel also turned around I ran to M-4 punching him in the back of the head before delivering the butt of my gun to his back stunning him to the ground. He lied on his chest where I stomped on his hand holding his gun. Celsius and Fahrenheit were quick to subdue Jewel as I heard commotion behind me. Celsius had her foot on top of the espeon's neck as she lied on her side. "Stop… you stupid dumbass fuck!" M-4 screamed half in pain and anger. His eyes were shut tight as he grabbed his head with his other hand.

"Don't make any sudden movements. Now, why the hell did you kill those two?" I asked still having my foot on his hand while having my other foot on the back of his head adding force to both feet with my gun over him.

"Why the fuck else… shit… damn, is this the thanks for saving your ass!" he strained.

"Why the hell did you decide to save me?" I demanded letting off some of the pressure.

"Because… Dialga fucking Palkia… Because we have something in common damn it. Just get the fuck off!" he quickly yelled.

Being very careful I gripped my Mark V firmly pointing it at his head. "Any moves, you're fucked!" I got off of him giving him some space to get up.

He slowly struggled to get up. Wobbling he grabbed the solid black wooden frame of his bed for support. "Fuck my head! Damn you're a beast. Hard to believe… that you took me down like that. You sure you human?"

"Enough fucking around! What were you about to explain?" I interrogated as my legs were shoulder length apart leaning forward having my right arm extended all the way out the gun several inches away from his eye.

"You and me… we're on the same page. Tell Celsius to let go of Jewel," M-4 began. I nodded to Celsius signaling her to get off of Jewel. Jewel got up and staggered slowly towards M-4's side. M-4 picked her up, cradled the fairly large pokémon, and began petting her head and back; something I have never seen him do before causing me to raise an eyebrow. "You okay Jewel?"

"I'm fine, Master."

"Good, sorry our plan got fucked and backfired like that," he said to Jewel as she was cradled in his arms before looking up at me. "Rayn… right, okay so you're the son of the man that created our armor and other weapons and shit. I wasn't part of the killings though if you were wondering."

"Okay, that won't save you," I threatened still having the gun aimed at him. My pokémon got to my side watching M-4 and Jewel alertly.

"Then this should. You came here for vengeance; you hate the Don and everyone else that lives here. That's why you don't like assassinating targets because you don't like killing possibly innocent people, you'd rather save those bullets that for these guys. Well, I hate the Don too, and not only me but M-60 too."

I was caught by surprise once he had said that, but he could be trying to trick me. "Fuck you I'm not falling for that crap," I told before pulling back the hammer of the pistol with my thumb emitting the intimidating click sound. "You selfish piece of shit trying to deceive me-"

"Wait I'm serious stupid ass. Just let me explain the story," he pleaded with wide open eyes. I stared into those pupils trying to see if he was serious. I don't know if I read him well but his expression proved true.

"…I'm listening." I sighed still having him at gun point though.

"Okay, I hate and want to kill the Don for similar reasons. One was that he had ordered my own uncle to kill my mom then take me in as his test subject; his first ever assassin. He wanted to see if a young kid can be trained and brain washed at an early age. I became his first assassin. Apparently the project worked because I'm still here as well as you and the fuckin' others, but he hadn't quite brain washed me all the way like he thinks; though he was fuckin' close. First kill I ever got was to my dad that they convinced me was no good. He may have been a dead beat mother fucker but I still respected him; I fucking remember!" He started trembling which had me on high alert until I saw signs of tears. "I fucking hate him!" he boomed slowly and angrily so loud I could see he was trying to get his point across, "He ordered my own uncle to kill my mom in the same room where I was then had the balls to tell me to kill my pop! He and Garand did things to me, he made me do things I didn't want to do! It hurt! You think I'm just some kind of fuckin' killing machine? That ain't true because just like you I puke each time I massacre an innocent family!"

I could only stand there taken way back by his story, his intense yelling, the tears he had just shed which I've never seen him do before. M-4 is way to positive and stone tough to ever do that. I could only stare at his reddened face full of bulging arteries around his temples and neck before clearing my throat. "Who's your uncle?" I asked quietly being a little nervous about what to think.

"Fucking Juggernaut, you lived with him and learned how much of a prick he can turn into. You were the one that killed him slowly; I like how you did it too. Too bad I couldn't have him to myself," he smiled gripping the golden, intricate bed post with both hands for support.

"So Juggernaut went in killed your mother and then kidnapped you. Then why are you always so…upbeat all the damn time and caring about your tauros shit duties? I rarely smile when I first entered this mansion because I saw a world of shit before my eyes when I was seven as well as Celsius, and I still don't smile that often as before I could remember."

"I actually don't give a fuck about assignments, fuck face! I only did it in front of you to test if you were truly loyal. I was doing that the whole time at Alto Mare especially. Man, me and Jewel were having as much fun as you two were, but when we saw you three I had to see if you were a real assassin because the others are so I avoid them. And you're not; thank Palkia that you're not. I prayed for someone else to be like me and M-60 because the more numbers the better. That's why I liked you when you first entered that yacht a year ago, that's why I kept cheering you on, and damn it that's why I ordered Jewel to revive you and Fahrenheit; it was a risk but it played out good." M-4 was actually smiling really big probably feeling relieved to the point I involuntarily lowered my gun. "Why am I always positive? M-60 was the first to change me I guess, followed by the other assassins that came. It just came to me from being around them so fuckin' much because the other assassins love this job. It makes them laugh at all the wannabe online players on those shooting games, and hell so do us when we play. I guess their positivity hit me, but for a very long ass time I've been waiting for the perfect opportunity to fuck the Don up."

"So why haven't you killed the Don yet?" I asked being brave enough to put my gun away.

"Cause I can't do it alone, even if I had M-60 we need more to back us up. There's no such thing as a one man army," he sighed letting Jewel go to have her sit next to him on the bed.

"Then as soon as M-60 comes back we get in that office and kill him along with everyone else on this property, but leave the Don to me; I deserve him more than anyone else."

"No one can simply barge in there and kill him, Rayn," Jewel begun to all of us, "You would need the perfect setting. When everyone in this mansion is preoccupied, distracted, or if there's a low number of grunts is when the time is right. Also, if want to have a full scale massacre of everyone on this property, we would have to sabotage transport, escape routes, and surveillance. Not to forget the many other structures around the property that houses many of the grunts. Do you expect to get out alive?"

"No," I blankly said, "Neither do they," I pointed towards my pokémon who nodded with serious looks as they observed my interrogation, "Look; I know what's going to happen to me. I kill everyone then escape. I get caught by the feds and imprisoned for life where I will die. We all know there's no escape. It's a suicide mission because we're passionate about completing it," I spoke clearly and slowly getting my point across.

"Dude, that's not true. There has to be a way to live on, there's just gotta be!" he assured.

"I don't care. Sometimes I think this aura is a gift that keeps me alive because Arceus actually wants me to stop the mafia from committing these crimes and do nothing else," I sighed finally fully relaxed to sit on the crimson comforters.

"That's it! That's the beastiest part about you, you know that!" he presented having a realization, "You used it hella good at the docks and at Southern Island. If you actually learned how to use it anytime you could kill anyone here easily! Holy shit- Livius can teach you! This whole family is a descendent of an aura guardian but Livius' pussy ass was hand picked by Arceus." He chuckled.

"Hmm," I thought. M-4 was actually right! If I could harness that power I'll almost be invincible. "Wow, you could be right if I actually had the powers of a fully armed guardian-Wait, you never told me why M-60 hates the Don," I quickly pointed out.

"About the same reason as us with everything put together; it was really bad. He was brought in three years after I was as the second test subject. Months later Garand kidnapped three more kids each being slightly older and mostly female. They were M3T, MP-5, and M-99 which are Rayne, Amanda, and Josh as you already know. I know everything about the history of Mafia 14. After those three were brought in that's when fifteen more were kidnapped which begun the final death match assessment experiment except this time four got to walk out alive."

"Did…did he really kill my father?" I asked trembling over that subject.

"No…that assault was way too deadly even for us assassins. The Don likes us alive, that's why he sent an army of grunts. Don't worry about that grunt who said M-60 killed him. He's probably just taunting us as usual."

"Oh my Arceus," I sighed greatly relieved, "You don't know how glad I am to hear that…but those bastards…still…my mom." Every time I recall what the now deceased grunt said I feel so sick and disgusted from the possibility of that happening. "I fucking hate that grunt so much!"

Out of impulse I got up rushing over to the body sprawled across the ground with the hand still connected to the counter where I yanked the wrist as hard as I could tearing the knife past bone and flesh flinging blood further across the other marble counters let alone this wooden one seeing the half sliced hand swaying un aligned revealing a mess of torn flesh which just inflamed my grudge. That's when I lost my control of breathing grabbing the grunts head and slamming it down to the floor over and over again trying to break his skull wide open. I was relieving so much anger but I felt hands restraining my arms pulling me out of the kitchen away from the body.

"No, that fucker raped my mom! No!" I sobbed and screamed as I saw both M-4 and Celsius pull me away from the body.

"Stop, he's fuckin' dead! There's nothing else you can do-"

"Master, please he's right. Listen to us!"

"You're just gonna make a bigger mess…Oh fuck!" As I was calming down I saw M-4 run over to the house phone on his black, wood fined night stand. He pushed a button before saying towards the speaker on the system, "Accidental gun discharge occurred in my suite. Don't worry, I have everything under control and have maids on the way." He then hung up the phone before running to the kitchen turning on the lights.

"What about the fucking bodies?"

"The Don will never notice a couple grunts have disappeared. Help me out by getting a broom and dust pan and sweeping up the brain pieces from my kitchen. I'll wipe down the counters and shit. And-and I'll…I'll fuckin' call a maid down right now to clean the carpets. Just say we got back from an assignment and got a lot of blood on the floors and walls. They shouldn't care," he panicked as he quickly got to work followed by me and Celsius, "I'll get some trash bags and try to stuff the bodies and hide them in the other room until we find a way to get rid of them.

I got to work taking his broom from a storage closet and sweeping the pink, mutilated remains of brain matter ejected thanks to M-4's bullet. After I scanned all the wooden floors and walls three times I mopped and wiped down the tan painted walls getting rid of as much evidence as possible. I saw M-4 grab a ton of giant black trash bags and stuff the bodies in by covering the torso with three layers and the legs with the rest. Afterwards I helped dragged them into the room where his toilet was before closing off that door to his bathroom making sure no blood trailed across the marble floors. By then it had been around five minutes; in time for the service maid to arrive.

"What a mess!" I heard a feminine voice gasp from the main room as I came out of the bathroom, "I see you just came back from an assignment, getting blood all over the walls from you playing with an injury," the maid observed as she prepared the necessary cleaning products.

"Whatever, had an accident but I'm good now," M-4 responded coolly.

"That's what the nurses at intensive care center are for," the maid nagged as she got down to her knees.

Ten minutes after making sure the whole kitchen and bathroom was spotless I sat on the bed as my pokémon sat in the luxurious dining chairs around me while Jewel lied behind me. We all remained silent. I still couldn't believe the fact that M-4 is just like me when it comes to this topic. He's been a part of this for eight years. He's been able to control all of this hate for eight years? That just sounds way too difficult to do. I sure as hell couldn't do it apparently taking out my rage on a grunt, but how does M-4 cope with that shit?

"Well, we're still alive," Fahrenheit spoke quietly.

"Yeah, apparently we're not the only ones that want the Don dead after all. He better be telling the truth Jewel," Celsius responded.

"It's all true Celsius, everything he said is true! You have to understand that as the first assassin for this organization we had to remain calm and adapt at all times. It was difficult but we knew how to give each other support," Jewel replied causing Celsius to look at me transmitting her unsure thoughts through her piercing eyes. I felt the psychic get up from the bed to hop down in front of Fahrenheit. "I'm so sorry I acted so cold towards you. Please understand that it's what I had to do in front of those grunts. Please don't hate me for this; I know you did care about my well being because I felt it. And I care about yours too, I didn't want to kill you," she spoke to Fahrenheit which this time caused Celsius to roll her eyes getting me to chuckle at her attitude.

"Oh…uh…" I begun to observe Fahrenheit shuffle around his spot as he tried to respond, "Apology accepted Jewel. Things can be different now that we're not enemies." After he said that my eyes widened from watching him make his move by nuzzling her like affectionate pokémon would do. I saw her eyes do the same but eventually she fell into the embrace bringing a small smile to me being happy for Fahrenheit but it soon disappeared.

"It just can't be this easy. We can't just have a change of heart just like that. Sorry, Jewel, but in all honesty I still have my doubts towards your master," I told to the couple causing them to stop, "But until I'm convinced I need to keep my guard up."

"I understand, Rayn." I saw Fahrenheit's head lower as his ears retracted from hearing me say that. Just as I mused over this whole ordeal I heard the lock at the door twist causing Fahrenheit and Jewel to separate before seeing M-4 walk in.

"Are we clear?" I asked looking up from his bed.

"Hell yeah, can't believe that actually worked! No one got suspicious about that big ass trash bin I fuckin' pushed through the elevator. So the bodies are gone."

"Good," I sighed in relief, "So basically ever since the moment we've met you and Jewel just acted loyal around me?"

"Yeah, well the hell do you want me to do? Fuckin' cuss at the Don in front of everybody to prove something?"

"But why didn't you just ask me after I became an assassin if I was like you?" I interrogated.

"That's the dumbest ass question I've ever heard! 'Oh hey, do you wanna kill the Don? No? Well shit, I'll have to kill you then before you snitch,'" he mocked, "I had to see if I could really trust you and if you're a good assassin. Otherwise I had to act like I love doing what we do; Jewel and I should be nominated for an Emmy, shit."

"Because of your acting I hated you and I made sure to have my pokémon hate you and your pokémon! This…this whole time I was stressing over the fact that I had to kill you two one day," I explained frustratingly pinching the bridge of my nose and gritting my teeth from the shear confusion I felt.

"Aww, you worry about me," he sarcastically joked, "Sounds pretty homo, but look, I knew you would have to hate us. That's why I was trying to be your friend. But come on, things have changed now so we should be truly cool-"

"Whoa, I just can't just change my opinion all of a sudden. I've honestly saw you as an enemy since the day we met and now I'm trying to see if I can trust you. Dude, I still can't even believe everything that you told me. You could kill me behind my back Arceus damn it!"

"Damn it I swear to my parents' grave, may their souls rest in peace Arceus, that I am telling the truth!" he backed forcefully, "How else do you want me to prove it? I just killed some fuckin' grunts to save you and moved them out of the house risking my own ass." I just sat there with my head down getting frustrated about what to do. Should I trust him or not? He's sounding serious but I just can't assume that. "Look, I'm sorry about the scare and acting okay. I really had no other choice. You have to believe me."

"Heh, what scare? I was excited to go teach the Don a lesson but I guess that has to wait," I sighed.

"Just wait for M-60 to come back so we can plan all of this together. He hates The Don just as much as each of us, and he did not have anything to do with that massacre; none of us did."

"I just can't believe this just happened. I never knew I would get another ally…"

"Do you want to kill the Don?"

"Yes, I fucking do," I answered growing agitated.

"Nothing can describe how much I want you to trust me so we can all help each other end this hopefully real soon," he spoke remaining serious as he has throughout the conversation. "If you want us to slit our hands and shake in blood, then fine we can do that. I need you to trust me with this. Have you ever seen me this serious? I was so afraid of people reporting me in the past and I know that you feel the same way right now. I know you think I might kill you at night because I felt the same way before."

"You're…" I struggled before coming to a quick conclusion, "You are fucking right," I paused trying to process what I had just put myself in and if it's the right thing to do, "I…I believe you," I told giving out my hand so that he can formally shake it. He took the sign and we did as we exchanged eye contact nodding at each other. "If you're still acting right now, I'll fucking kill you," I told threateningly before looking at my pokémon directing them to trust Jewel as well by gesturing over to her.

"I know you will. That's why I'm not. Just like you and your pokémon, Jewel and I want to stay alive until the right time comes, and it hasn't come yet."

"Wow- I mean how do you do that? How do you keep yourselves calm? Fuck, how come my whole family became a massive target!" I suddenly yelled from getting pissed about that subject.

"Your dad was part of S.W.A.T right? One day I walk into the Don's office and see him crying badly and throwing a fuckin' tantrum. Next thing the house knows is that his son had been killed and the killer was your old man. After the funeral Garand and the Don had planned out an attack on your family because he wanted revenge for his son's death. He loved his son and he said "there is no other form of pain or suffering that can match my grief". Selfish bastard; then he ordered half of this mansion to kill your family."

"No other form of pain huh? So my father pissed him off after trying to stop this whole organization in the first place, but nothing has been done about it… M-4, when we plan this shit out I want The Don to watch his whole organization crumble to shit. I want him to barely remain alive as he sees this mansion collapse along with everyone else in it."

"Don't worry, I've been by him for years so I know the things to do to piss him way the fuck off and stress him out," M-4 smiled.

"We know several major businesses he owns that are run by his people. Master and I know what to destroy. As he sees his empire fall apart he will feel… like shit," Jewel added as she smiled in effect causing my pokémon to agree.

"So when the Don dies what do you plan on doing after this all over?" M-4 asked as he walked over to his desktop.

"What can I do? Well if we don't became the most wanted people, which you say is possible, then I'm just going to become a pokémon trainer since I really have no other option. What about you?"

"Uhh shit… probably the same thing," he chuckled powering on his computer.

"Didn't you say pokémon training is stupid?"

"Well we're gonna need money. Besides I only said that because it was impossible to become one. Now that I figured you out we can get out of here because we may just have enough firepower, just don't know when though."

"Oh yeah, so then what is your goal going to be then, becoming the Pokémon Master," I snickered mocking him since he thinks people with that kind of goal are retarded.

"Hell to the fuck no, I'm probably just gonna do what you do, except better," he smirked.

"Yeah right better, you probably don't even know how to battle," I laughed even hearing my pokémon join in.

"Shut up, we actually had pokémon battles way back then during training but seeing they weren't useful in combat Garand removed that from the procedures! And I was fuckin' beast at those! I'll just stay a trainer until I have caught every single kind of pokémon I want; just like you but better."

"The hell, you just copied that from me! What pokémon do you want that are 'better'!"

"You know my favs, all the canine-like pokémon that exist. If they have pointed ears, a muzzle with sharp ass teeth, fur, and paws with claws then they're on my list, you know that."

"So Mightyena, Arcanine, Manectric… all the Eevee forms, Smeargle, Lucario, and…"

"Yeah exactly, all that," he smiled.

"Well you have one down and a shit load more to go," I grinned.

"So do you, what did you plan on getting?"

"I don't know yet. I actually had a list that contained about all the pokémon I wanted but…it was destroyed…thanks to these fucks. Hmm, maybe I can redo it tonight."

Minutes later I brought up a chair to M-4's computer sitting next to him opening up a web browser as our pokémon conversed in the separate room. The kind of pokémon that I'm looking for has to be tough and look intimidating in my opinion. I already know all sorts of pokémon species just by looking at a picture but I don't know any descriptions about how they battle.

"Okay, let me just open up a new tab here and…whoa," I trailed off from seeing a small window in his tabs page that contained a picture of what I saw was a naked girl! Out of curiosity I clicked on the page making the picture look bigger to which I just stared at completely entranced for some reason. I looked the pictured up and down seeing the blonde woman posing on a bed on her hands and knees with the picture showing primarily her face and boobs which I just stared at. I took in every feature of the private area of her chest never seeing nipples before; well not that I can remember.

"Hey, what the fuck- get out of my porn!" M-4 screamed causing me to jolt away from the picture as he put his phone down and shoved my arm away from the mouse where he took control.

"Whoa…that was…she was fucking… hot!"

"Yeah, yeah, but if you're gonna look up porn then do it on your own time damn it!" he scolded.

"Porn?" I asked completely clueless.

"Yes…porn, naked chicks?"

"Oh okay I get it!" I blurted upon learning the definition.

"Holy shit…you've never looked up porn before?" he questioned.

"No, I don't know if the service grunts around here check to see if we look up that stuff. I never tried."

"Oh my Arceus dude," he cracked up loudly clutching his stomach as he put a hand on my shoulder, "Oh…dude no one…no one will know because it only shows on our computers. Just type in 'porn' in a search engine and you'll be busy for a while," he smiled as he brought the web browser back up."

"Oh…god it's just I've never seen a naked chick before," I spoke, "Ah, shit this hurts." After I said that I reached in my pants to adjust myself getting irritated from my penis getting hard at this second. Damn it, why now?

"Holy crap if you're gonna do that then get out!" he told scooting away from me.

"What? Stay out of my business! You know when your shit gets hard it starts to hurt-"

"Whoa…oh wait. We weren't in school to get taught Sex Ed, shit; fuck you'd be learning this year. Anyways…I'm just gonna say your dick got hard because you saw a naked chick," he quickly spoke

"What the fuck, why?"

"'Cause fuckin' you think she's hot! It fills up with blood- holy fuck, just do your own research on a search engine! No one told me about this shit, so that's how I found out okay. Right now we're trying to make your list of pokémon!"

"Alright sorry, damn! It's just that girl's… boobs!" I blurted out still remembering that picture, "Oh Arceus," I spoke quietly as M-4 kept giving the desktop commands, "her body reminds me of Celsius…wait."

"Reminds of you of who!" he suddenly exclaimed jolting me out of my thoughts again.

"Oh fucking…M-24… you know, Naomi," I quickly lied.

M-4 only looked at me with a raised eye brow. "That did not sound like a 'Naomi'. Wow, you suck at lying! Did you say Celsius?" he interrogated intently.

"What-no! Hell no, that's my pokémon. She's a blaziken!" I protested growing worried. I mean I didn't mean to think of her that way.

"…You said Celsius!" he snickered.

"No I didn't!" Oh Arceus why am I smiling?

"Look dude, she's a pokémon, not a person. Arceus, there are people out there that fuck pokémon just 'cause they got boobs and that's just fucking disgusting-"

"I know, I know I strongly agree with you that's why I didn't say her name damn it!"

M-4 had found a newly formed but hard to navigate website that displays all pokémon discovered so far from species from the other side of the world to each legendary pokémon documented. I told him to narrow all searches to only the regions Hoenn, Johto, Kanto, and Sinnoh within the Western Pacific Nation. I'm probably only going to train around those areas anyway. We scrolled down the page to get a look at all of the pictures of pokémon sorted in alphabetical order.

"Oh hell yeah, I'm adding that to my list!" M-4 blurted out as he wrote down the name of a pokémon I also adored greatly.

Even though I recognize the pokémon I clicked on the picture bringing me to the descriptions. "Funny, this is already one of my favorite pokémon that I chose long ago when I first saw one," I commented before reading out the description, "Absol, the disaster pokémon is a dark type. It's blue or black skin is covered in all white fur with a mane around its neck and chest and long, straight fur hanging down from the top of its head to create a distinctive crescent shape fur pattern along the left cheek. Other distinctive features are mainly growths like the small, oval shape growth on the forehead and a much larger growth that resembles a sickle originating from the right temple. The sickle like growth is an extremely sharp horn used for hunting. Other features are the scythe shaped tail, also used for defense, and its paws with three large claws in the front and a fourth one protruding from the elbow of the legs. Absol's special ability is to predict natural disasters. Most cases show that they only appear in packs before people to warn that a disaster is approaching and urges massive populations to evacuate. This power brings unfortunate events for the Absol since victims of a disaster had thought that these creatures were the cause of natural disasters in the past. This assumption is even still made today." I then wrote down "Absol" on my paper. I have always wanted this pokémon. One of my relatives had an Absol and he was part of the Coast Guard.

"Kick ass, Absol is beasty!"

"I learned about this pokémon a long time ago. I really do hope I get to catch one someday but they're only found in one part of this nation; oh and it's in this region." I scrolled down to the next pokémon that had caught my interest.

"Fuck yeah, I'm getting this beast too!" M-4 wrote down the name of the pokémon on his paper.

"Yeah I do want this pokémon too," I sighed.

"The hell are you copying off of me for?" he joked.

"Because I had the pre evolutionary form of this pokémon before. He was killed in the massacre, dip shit," I explained losing a little temper. I got depressed as soon as I saw the picture of an Arcanine and I didn't need M-4 to make any stupid accusations. It reminded me of Lithium, my growlithe that was caught in the cross fire. I wrote down "Arcanine" in my list but I know there is no other growlithe that can replace Lithium.

I scrolled down the page until I found an interesting pokémon. It's a big sky blue colored bird that's an ice type with streamer-like tails and three rhombus shaped feathers, an Articuno, a mythical legendary pokémon. I know for damn sure that I would have no chance at catching it. The reason why I put this pokémon in my list is because I just want to catch a glimpse at it some day and that goes for all the legends I put on this list.

"There's Celsius," I pointed out the Blaziken on the screen then wrote the name down putting a checkmark next to the name.

Doing some more research I added five more pokémon, M-4 added four to his list. We were in the F's section of the order.

"Floatzel, the sea-weasel pokémon is a water type. Floatzel are orange with a cream under belly. They feature two tails just like its pre evolutionary form, the buizel, and two blue finely sharp pointed fins on each arm. A yellow floatation sack around the body provides buoyancy during high tides. The two tails are used to propel it at very high speeds for the average water pokémon and it also uses its fins to either help with propulsion or injure prey by inflicting deep wounds." I wrote down the name after I read out the description. M-4 only wanted canine pokémon so he didn't find any interest in this one. I scrolled down further adding one more pokémon to the list. Then I saw a very intimidating looking pokémon, and even the description was intimidating. "Garchomp, the mach pokémon is a dual type dragon/ground type. Having dark blue skin with a red underbelly going to its jaws and underside of the arms and a golden cross on its snout with a diamond on its waist it shares a close resemblance to sharpedo and even modern aircraft by having thick wings on each arm, one dorsal wing, and another on its tail tip with growths on the head that resemble jet engines. Spikes on its hind legs and sharp claws at the ends of its arms are other predatorily features. The aircraft resemblance is no coincidence. Engineers adopted the design of garchomp's wings during the aircraft revolution into jets to create the back-swept wing design used on most aircraft today." I wrote that down as soon as I was done reading.

"Damn, that is one beast but I'm still going only for canines. I'm not really into dragons," M-4 stated.

Next was a pokémon that also got me depressed. "Gardevoir, the embrace pokémon is a psychic type. Wearing a layer of natural grown silk similar to a ballroom gown, gardevoir has long slender white legs giving it the impression that it is levitating off the ground. Gardevoir's arms are green with two red horns sticking out its chest and back. Like many psychics, these creatures can sense the future and emotions more clearly. Despite its frail and feminine appearance, their powers are very lethal in order to protect its family or trainer for it is known to be very loyal." The information about the arm color is wrong but everything else is right. Loyalty is a very important word to me which is why I added gardevoir to my list long ago mentally. Reading this still reminded me of Gardevoir and Ralts from back then.

"Wow…" M-4 slowly said, "Why do I get the feeling that M-60's perverted ass would do something fucked up to this pokémon?" He then laughed, "Oh Dialga, the gender ratio reads fifty-fifty, damn! Transvestite," he coughed jokingly.

"Wow shut the hell up, now you sound like M-60," I joked. Scrolling down further I added two more pokémon while M-4 added four, two of which he added were also on my list. I read out the description of one of them, "Houndoom, the dark pokémon is a dual dark/fire type. Houndoom have jet black fur all over except for the underbelly and snout which are orange. Some distinctive features are that they have two white bands on each ankle and three larger ones on its back which are natural bone. Their tails are thin but at the end it takes the shape of an arrow head. Another collar-like band around its neck has a skull shape pendant and lastly the two curved horns on its head are distinctive features. Houndoom are extremely intelligent and can be overly aggressive but only when protecting its pack or owner. Once trained properly however they become very loving pokémon." M-4 added two more to his list. I then saw two pokémon before reading out their descriptions adding them to my list. "Latias and Latios, the eon pokémon are dual type dragon/psychic legendary pokémon. For all who caught a glimpse of these creatures barely witnessed them as all have recalled the dragons flying off at very high speeds away from view. Latias is the female counterpart of latios while latios is the male counterpart. The lower half of latias' body is red where as latios is blue both having jet aircraft-like wings that have been observed by some to vary in swept position. This may indicate that these are fast and agile flyers. Latias has a blue triangle shaped marking on her chest while latios has the same shaped marking but red. Some have witnessed them to tuck in their arms upon flight which would reduce drag. The upper half of latias is white with triangular curved ears, a red face, and a white pentagon shaped marking on her face. Latios upper half is grey with straight triangular ears, a blue face, with a white oval marking on his face. Latios are known to be bigger than latias, and recent documentaries have depicted them to be more aggressive than the female. A controversial issue aroused about these legendary pokémon having the power to turn invisible, but nothing else is known about their personality or powers." I sure do hope I see these pokémon one day without their invisibility.

M-4 added another pokémon after I added the same exact one. He then blurted out, "Garand has a shit load of these pokémon ready to kill anything and he won't give me one even though he gave M-9 one!"

"Lucario is badass," I commented before reading, "The aura pokémon is a dual fighting/steel type. Its paws are black along with its shoulders, parts of its head, and lower half of its legs. A spike is found on the top of its hands and in the middle of its yellow colored chest. Lucario are highly sensitive to aura, energy that every sentient being emits, and they use this ability to track their opponent's moves before they can execute it. They can also mend and control their own aura to make offensive or defensive moves. Many cases have shown that lucario are able to speak through telepathy to humans only if they share a deep bond with that person, and there have been very few cases where they can actually talk using human speech. Even though there have been some psychic pokémon cases where the trainer could communicate using telepathy, lucario are the most common to do so. They are highly intelligent, live, react, and feel similar to humans, and are very protective. There isn't much known about their habitat since lucario are the rarest non-legendary pokémon known in the world."

"Than how the fuck did Garand get all of those Lucario?"

"Probably bred them. Okay what else can be added?" I added one more which was a legendary with a description way to massive for me to read while M-4 added none. Then I saw a pokémon that I have always wanted, with the Absol, since I first saw one on T.V. "Luxray, the gleam eyes pokémon is an electric type. Luxray has teal blue fur on the chest, hind legs, under arms, face, and ears while it has black on the tail, waist and shoulders, front arms, and mane. The black fur on the waist, shoulders, and mane are spiked from static electricity. There are three yellow semi ring patterns on the back of its arms, a yellow star shaped spike on its tail, and yellow ear canals. Their special ability can be found within the red and yellow eyes. Luxray have an extremely powerful sense of eyesight that they can see through objects. Luxray are extremely vicious and territorial but when trained they're tremendously loyal and passionate, but angering a Luxray can easily break that bond," I read out before saying, "Damn!" slowly.

I added six more to my list after reading out Luxray's description while M-4 added two. "Ninetales, the fox pokémon is a fire type. Covered in luxurious golden-cream fur, it has nine tails each tipped with orange fur. They also have a fluffy crest acting as a small mane and a ruff around the neck and shoulders. Researchers have found that it is possible for some ninetales to live up to a thousand years. There are many myths and legends about this pokémon, and they're known to have ghost-like abilities. Ninetales are notorious for holding grudges. Harming this pokémon can make it vengeful by giving the assaulter a curse. Also, touching one of its tails without permission will enrage it." I wrote down the name and so did M-4. I like how this pokémon has ghost type moves.

We both wrote down two more pokémon. "Salamence, the dragon pokémon, is a dual dragon/flying type. It's a quadruped dragon with a sky blue colored body except under tail which is red and underbelly which is armored silver. It also has a red under neck, white jaw, red bands on the top of its head, and giant red, axe shaped metallic wings. Trainers say that salamence are known to be cocky and arrogant especially in winning battles. This is due to the challenge they go through to grow their wings." I added this pokémon to my list. I scrolled down adding another pokémon then read aloud another description. "Sceptile the forest pokémon is a grass type. Sceptile is green all around except for the red jaw and red band marking on its waist. Also having six yellow nodules and a palm tree branch-like tail, it has properties of a tree by sucking in nitrogen through the nodules. Sceptile are known to be the fastest grass type pokémon as it can leap from tree to tree at high speeds. Sceptile also share dragon characteristics." I marked it down on my list even though I know it's going to be extremely hard to find a treeko in the wild. I added seven more while M-4 added three.

"Oh shit, that's what's Fahrenheit gonna look like in the future?"

"Yep, a powerful Typhlosion," I answered proudly as I wrote down the name than put a checkmark next to the name. I added two more while M-4 added three more pokémon as we came to the last of the webpage.

I turned off his computer then read out my list. "Okay I got absol, arcanine, articuno, beedrill, blaziken, dewgong, one eeveelution, empoleon, feraligatr, floatzel, flygon, garchomp, gardevoir, granbull, houndoom, either latias or latios, lucario, lugia which will probably never be seen, luxray, magmortar, marowak, mawile, meganium, mew but I doubt I'll ever see that as well, mightyena, ninetales, pidgeot, rampardos, salamence, sandslash, sceptile, scyther, sharpedo, shaymin, skarmory, staraptor, torkoal, typhlosion, ursaring, and lastly zangoose. That brings me up to a total list of forty pokémon. What do you have?"

"Uh… I got absol, arcanine, eevee, electrike, espeon which I already got, flareon, glaceon, granbull, growlithe, houndoom, houndour, joelton, leafeon, lucario, manectric, mightyena, ninetales, poochyena, riolu, smeargle, snubbull, s-soo-e-soon- how the fuck do you say this shit?"

"I looked at his list to check the name while I was unfamiliar with what he just said. "Its suicune, dumbass. Its swee-koon, got it," I chuckled

"Yeah that, smart ass bitch, okay what else…umbreon, vaporeon, vulpix, and… yeah that's it, twenty-five."

"Wow… you do know that you listed the previous evolutions of all of those pokémon?"

"Yeah, I did that 'cause I want every single canine pokémon out there. Arceus, you deaf, I thought I said that like a thousand times?"

"Fuck you, I'm just saying because I thought you only want the final forms?"

"Naw, I want them all," he smiled.

"Why do you want the lower forms, they can't get all of the benefits from evolving?" He looked at me with a confused expression.

"Cause…aw shit… cause I think they're cool."

"Because you think those pokémon are cute." I laughed.

As soon as I begun laughing he slipped out one of his throwing knives pointing it a couple inches away from the back of my hand. "Yeah I do… but don't you ever tell M-60! I don't know how you knew but if you tell him then holy shit…" he threatened not wanting to continue on.

"Oh shit, I didn't think that was true. Well don't worry then. Besides there's nothing wrong with thinking that. Dialga, what is it forbidden to you?" He put the blade away with a surprised and embarrassed look. I busted out laughing at his reason. M-4 wants cute pokémon? That does seem weird!

"Hey, fuck you, shut up!" he told.

"Relax… relax, "I said in between laughs before I calmed down, "It's just that you of all people want these pokémon because they're cute, Dialga Palkia that's funny!"

"Yeah you got me, so what? They are…cute, damn it. If you keep laughing then I'll capture one of them and order it to chew your fuckin' head off. Does that sound cute?"

"Yeah whatever," I said ending my laughing fit, "It's a pretty good list anyways. See my dream was either this or becoming a pilot. I love flying and planes in general, but since I can't really earn any college degrees I can't dream of becoming one."

"Seriously? Dude, I fuckin' love planes too! I still remember those times before I was taken away when I lived with my mom near an air force base. Every time they took off I would just like stare at them take off and land while in formation. Those pilots are fuckin' beasts!" he happily explained.

"Really, that's pretty cool living next to those fighter jets. You actually wanted to fly too?" I happily asked never knowing he had interest in aviation too.

"Hell yeah, I mean I wanted to learn how. I wanted to like learn how to read the gauges and learn how to fly. Shit, how do pilots land?"

"That's cool," I exclaimed happily, "Never knew we had that in common, but dude you really want to learn how to fly planes?"

"Hell yeah-I mean I wish one day to fly a big ass jet for a bit."

Looking at his eyes being big in excitement upon letting me know how bad he wants to learn I got up and told him to follow me. "I got something that you'll definitely love then," I smiled.

Minutes later I came out of my suite where Jose stood next to my door in the spacious generally red hallway of the second floor of this mansion. I handed him a small box to have him look at. "What is this?" he asked as he shook it then read the cover.

As he read the cover his eyes gaped before he quickly turned to the back to read the description on the box. "That's' right M-4, it's a video game for the P.C. except this is no ordinary game. It's a flight simulator featuring real gauges, effects, and procedures. And I put in a DVD in the box that has a lot of bonus planes that are more realistic that I found and downloaded myself so you can install those too. All you have to do is just install this and go to the lessons tab and complete the first one and you'll be good," I smirked.

"Holy Dialga is this for real! It actually has real planes and those gauges, and it'll teach me how to fly?" he beamed.

"Yeah- I mean to its best. It's just a computer game so it doesn't have everything but it still has a lot. I've been playing this since I was seven then got back into it once I came to the mansion so I already remember a lot of procedures."

"Well fuck, let's go install it then," he said as he almost took off in a run down the hallway.

"Actually you go ahead. I'm going to go to bed, so call my pokémon back when you go to bed too. I'm actually pretty tired from what you guys pulled out on me."

"Hey, yeah sorry again. And thanks for the game M-14, it looks beasty as fuck!" he celebrated,

"You're welcome, alright see you tomorrow," I concluded turning to my door and going inside.

I took out the folded paper from my pocket containing my list. This "List of 40" would've been the map of my journey if I had the opportunity to become a trainer. Having forty pokémon that I want to join my team would be amazing, of course I'll ask for a challenge battle first instead of forcing them into joining me which will just prove that I'm different from the other trainers. There's already two checkmarks on my list, but that's probably all that there's going to be. I gloomily scanned through the paper before crumpling it up and throwing it in the bin next to my desktop. Wow, it felt like there was no point in creating that list. It felt more like a teaser than anything else since there are so many good pokémon that I want to capture. Pushing that topic to the side I stripped naked and hopped into the shower thinking only about if my decision to trust M-4 was a good one.

To Be Continued

Western Pacific Nation= United States, Canada, Greenland

Nation= Continent

Region= Nation.

As explained before in chapter 3, an example about those terms is that basically if South America was in Pokémon then it would be called in this fiction series a nation not a continent: Example, Latins Nation. There are eight nations in all as you read the series.

Regions are the same way. The Western Pacific Nation in this story represents North America and Canada except it's actually an archipelago instead of one big land mass. Picture this: Hoenn in this story is the size of the Southwestern United States. Johto and Kanto is Canada. Sinnoh could be the Eastern U.S., and the Sevii Islands can be the string of islands below Florida to South America. This is just a broad explanation of the size comparisons and different land forms from the real world.


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Absol the Perfect Disaster

"Come on Fahrenheit, I want to right now," my soon to be mate giggled as I followed with eager through Master's suite.

"Wait, you sure that… here is a safe spot," I hesitated watching her form meander with each step she took arousing me further as she trotted through Master's bathroom.

"It's perfect, Master won't know and M-14 won't mind at all. Please, I'm going mad right now thinking about it! Take me…" she spoke softly with a lustful gaze as she sat on her haunches with her tail up readying her further provoking my temptations and making me smile that she took my height into consideration. I'm as tall as her standing but on four legs I'm half her height thanks to these stubby legs.

"W-w-w- wait… let me just lay a towel on the tile at least. I don't want to leave a mess and cause suspicion."

This is it! I'm finally gonna mate, holy shit! I could barely even control my own movements as I went over to the towel rack from being so overwhelmed with what was happening. I quickly grabbed a towel in my maw laying it down in front of the jetted tub in Master's suite bathroom. I was shaking with excitement as I placed the towel down and watched Jewel pad over it getting back in a penetrable position. After so many hours of talking to each other in a more personal level her heat brought those moments to this one.

Seeing her tail lift up to reveal her swollen petals had me shaking, sweating a lot, and even stagger over the exciting view. The truth is I'm so nervous even though I don't want to admit it, not even to myself! I don't want to screw up or do it the wrong way, but fuck it, I have nothing to lose.

I have no idea how long she's been having these desires, but damn somehow her body looks even better than before. It's like she's literally highlighted before my eyes as the only source of light was a sunset view through the giant bathroom window reflecting an orange hue throughout her form. Her back was slightly arched forward to give me more access as I advanced to her, her eyes were hard to look away from as she gazed at my movements beaming with desire, and I couldn't help but stare at the puffier portion of her chest meaning her boobs had gotten bigger through her heat cycle arousing me further. That beautiful lavender chest fur of hers… I just want to play with them badly but we only have a few minutes. While she got more comfortable and relaxed on the towel she lifted her tail up further even bringing my face in by her pronged appendage. She has such a cute rounded ass matching with her wide hips that she sat on. I got a clear view of her waiting, wanting, never before touched, heated pussy, pink, swollen, and wet from the heat as she was making a damp spot on the tail. I already felt my sheath tighten badly from having this view and from taking in her musky ovulating scent.

"Arceus, you're so beautiful," was all I could say as my breath was literally taken from me.

She looked back and smiled as she waved her ass and even grinded her pussy against the towel hearing her moan quietly. Arceus, I've never seen her act out of her formal appearance before but it was sexy as hell! I couldn't help but want to do a little foreplay to get her more into the mood and into the naughtiness; not that she wasn't in it the first place. I heard M-60 talking to M-4 and Master about this before: eating a girl out. Trying to remember what he had said to M-4 where I eavesdropped, I placed my face inches away from her pussy. I teased her by breathing over her lips using my inner heat to get her more pent up knowing she can't get this anywhere else. She buckled and cooed at my treatment; yes! Then I roughly ran my tongue over her lips getting a taste of her love. If I could use one word to describe her taste it would be impossible because it is indescribable! My instinct took over as I dug my whole muzzle into her vag. It was like some force without warning took over my movements, and it felt so good. I used my forepaws to grope her ass spreading them wider apart as I dug my muzzle into her hole. I heard her cry out loudly causing me to look up only getting a great view of her soft rump and cute little tail hole puckering up from the pleasure. If this was amazing then I can't wait to get down to business. I was hungry for more so I flicked my tongue around trying to trigger her to moan harder giving me what I want.

"Ohhh, Fah- Fahrenheit!" she squealed.

As bad as I wanted to continue with eating her out, I couldn't. We don't have enough time. I got what she wants and now I need to put it to work and finish up in only a couple of minutes before M-4 gets suspicious. I finally overcame myself from diving back into her pussy by mounting her sitting body. I was buckling myself as I moved into position grabbing her sides as she stayed seated where I tried to get my member into place.

"Aah… you're so full of surprises." She gasped.

I felt her fur brush against my own; the soft silk pelt grinding against my chest was adding to the temptation and blinding my thoughts all at once. I could feel it, her radiating heat against my member which needed to be relieved.

"Wait… I know this is an odd request… but we have never kissed yet…" Jewel grunted.

I was trying to find the correct words but it was not easy since my judgment was clouded. "Y-yeah you're right," I said as soothingly as possible.

"Then… before you take me, I want to share my first kiss with you," she cooed very sensually.

Thanks to M-4's over protectiveness we couldn't be with each other so we never got an opportunity to kiss other than talk which was for at the most ten minutes. While still on top of her I leaned in more towards her head slowly. Her face was near mine as we drew closer. I have never kissed, let alone mated before, so I want this moment to be special for the both of us and to be remembered. I'll make this kiss meaningful. I moved closer and closer and the more close I got the faster my heart pounded waiting for the contact with eyes closed. I was debating what is the right and meaningful way to kiss as we slowly came in. Damn, I never knew sex was this difficult! I've been holding in all of my temptation for this moment. I so wanted to grope her chest as we kissed 'cause my paws were so close to her mounds but I held back wanting this to be passionate. Nothing can ruin this now!

"Shit, Fahrenheit where are you!" I heard from the other room followed by quick footsteps causing me to jump off of Jewel. You have got to be fucking kidding me!

I quickly grabbed the towel waiting for Jewel to get off before throwing it in my room so that there was no evidence. My penis had sunk back into my sheath just in time. Did Master just really scar our moment together! Right after the towel landed in the room Master appeared before us in the hallway. "What is it, sir!" I responded as formally as possible still trying to transition my composure.

"We have an assignment! There aren't any other sniper assassins around and Garand needs one. I'm the only one that can do this, and it needs to get done quickly! You in, or are you too busy letting your instincts run you?" He was being serious! Of all times I'm needed it's now? Thanks Arceus, I really appreciate this!

"Of course I'm in, sir!" I looked at Jewel who looked very annoyed and disappointed. "Damn it, I'm sorry. I can't let him down."

"I understand, come back in one piece, please," she spoke now being formal.

"Oh, knowing what we just missed out on I'm not ready to die," I reassured with a smirk before following Rayn to his weapons locker while Jewel left our suite.

"Get ready because we have to complete this task fast," he said as he threw on his black trench coat with the purple collar over his shirt and armor. He then took out his standard weapon set consisting of his black painted M14, grey and stainless steel M82 sniper rifle, and two, chrome Grizzly Mark V's.

**(POV)**

I gave Celsius a hug and afterwards she crouched so Fahrenheit can nuzzle her in a friendly manner before we left the access door to the roof. In front of us was our transport. A black and purple Bell 412 utility helicopter, equipped with medical equipment and a weapons bench, was already started up and waiting for our arrival. I opened the back door letting Fahrenheit jump inside first before I took off my sniper rifle and assault rifle placing them in the chopper before I climbed in. There was the pilot on the left seat and then there was a medical practitioner on the right seat of the cockpit who thankfully can work on me and my pokémon if one of us gets hurt.

"Your target is within the foot of the northern face of Mount Chimney," The pilot informed as we began ascending off the pad, "We'll drop you off five miles from your target twenty miles south of Route 113 Trainer's Trail."

"Roger that," I responded. As we gained altitude I told Fahrenheit our objective. "Okay Fahrenheit, you deserve to come with me on this task. Here's what's going to happen. There's a new oil plant opening up located at the northern base of Mount Chimney. It belongs to the rival Bartolomeo Family and it seems the Don has been having a lot of trouble with them recently so we're going to blow it up before they open up their supply pipes which they will tomorrow night. Lots of executives and presidents of fossil fuel companies are going to be at the opening ceremony tomorrow night, so tonight we have to plant bombs around the pumps, pipes, and offices to level that whole facility before they arrive. The Don says this will cripple that family."

"Holy crap, this sounds bigger than any average assignment. I missed mating, to come with you to plant bombs around a new oil rig?"

"Yes, if we fail then I don't know what the Don will do to me, but apparently by the time we get to the site it should be empty of employees and other civilians leaving only Bartolomeo Sentries guarding the place so it fits assassins even though it's such a huge assignment as long as it's done before they get back. The oil underneath Mount Chimney is rich so they'll make a lot of money," I concluded.

I looked out the passenger window. The sun was to our right as it was setting in the east. The window tint blocked off most of the blinding rays while it sank below the horizon. This is going to be a two hour flight. We should arrive at the drop off around evening. I know there are going to be armed sentries all over the facility, and since it's another branch of the Mafia it won't hurt to get good practice to improve my sniping. The only problem is that any assassin can agree that the Don rarely assigns assassinations this dangerous. Sneaking might be a pain in the ass, so I might have to shoot my way through in the worst case scenario. Assassins were not only trained on stealth but we're also trained on just rushing in creating a path of destruction if it's necessary but it's not recommended.

Later that night, I now just got the oil plant in plain sight. From what I observed coming out of the tree line with Fahrenheit, we were on higher ground as the bright group of buildings, intricate pipes, and towers descended into a small sloped valley with giant igneous boulders randomly placed throughout the valley. Eerily behind the facility was the steepening slope of Mount Chimney that reached high altitudes with the light poles of the facility illuminating the vegetation on the lower face of the volcano. No one was in range to hear our footsteps, but Command informed me of multiple signatures inside each building but only ten are patrolling outside moments earlier. I checked my ENA and switched it to "Tactical Map" mode. Using inferred technology to mark enemy bodies I only saw red blips all around my map by zooming around the facility, and with a push of a button more blips appeared as bodies were found inside the various buildings and hallways.

"Okay, let's recon and identify the location of the people I have to snipe before we proceed," I recommended as I screwed in a muzzle suppressor and scope to my M14, "We'll use the boulders for cover. For any sentry sneaking up on our flank you take the kill. We have to be quick about this before they notice a couple of corpses."

"Yes Sir," Fahrenheit approved.

I switched my ENA to topography mode. Since we're on the head of the hill I may have some pretty good vantage points. I went along against the tree line still remaining cautious with the noise. Our footsteps were quiet but quick. The grass and vegetation below us didn't make a sound as we trekked around the perimeter. I kept my binoculars in hand as I surveyed the plant every several seconds.

"Sir, wait a minute… I hear people," Fahrenheit warned as he perked his ears up to capture the sounds more accurately.

I checked my ENA to see two people located in front of a 16 meter steep cliff wall 50 meters away that separated us from the forest as the hill descended further down. "Two signatures, time for the first kill of the assignment," I smirked as I took out a combat knife. As we stalked closer behind the rock wall I began hearing conversing. They were still near the cliff so I hid behind a large rock nearby followed by Fahrenheit getting next to me. My back was against the rock as I peeked every so often finally catching a glimpse of the two grunts.

"Hey Vinnie, come check this out," one voice called.

"Arceus, let's hurry and fuckin' get back. We're not supposed to be patrolling out here!" the other voice complained.

"Yeah but I was taking a piss, right, when I found this… eh, thing here."

"What the fuck is that? Ain't it dead?"

"No, it's still moving," he chuckled.

I peaked over to see another figure join the group making it three guards. "What in Arceus' name is taking you two so long!" the new figure yelled, "Our boss is going to chew our asses off if we're caught way out here.

"Yeah, yeah now come here." The new figure walked over to them. "Look what I found when I was pissing," the man laughed as I peaked to see him poke something with a stick that was obstructed from my view. The new guard suddenly began quickly looking around before turning to me.

I hid behind the incline again startled thinking he might have seen me. Then I heard the sound of something getting pummeled and bashed along with grunting suddenly followed by acute yelping. Whatever that guy just hit was a pokémon! I looked at Fahrenheit with piercing eyes before gesturing towards their position with my arm and holding a palm up with my other and keeping it there. "You dumb shits get over here!"

"What?"

"That's not just any pokémon you shit heads. That's the 'harbinger of disasters'!" the panicked grunt yelled.

"What the hell," Fahrenheit spoke out curious about what they found. We peaked over once more as I still had my palm up overhead getting really pissed about them not helping out an injured pokémon but instead hurting it further.

"Hah, you and your old fart superstitions."

"What the fu- You think I'm lying? This pokémon is an omen, we have to kill it now!" I heard shearing metal and a few clicks that sounded like the slider of one gun being forced back to let a bullet into the chamber meaning one of them just readied a fire arm which really got me ready to stop that fucker brutally.

"Oh come on, if it's that bad then we should just save our ammo and just beat it 'till it's dead," one chuckled.

Okay that's it, time to make our move! I'm tired of hearing there shit. I closed my palm seeing Fahrenheit got the sighn before slowly getting up into a crouched stance while Fahrenheit slowly went around the other side of the rock. All three men were looking at the pokémon so we decided to flank them. My adrenalin was off the charts by now. Every time they talked about harming that pokémon it served as a charge for my anger.

"Fine, you're right Vinnie. We'll teach this pokémon to never step on this Earth again." The guard that just said that was my target. I signaled for Fahrenheit to get the other two.

I got behind my target seeing him bigger than me, like usual, while Fahrenheit got behind another. I have always known what I'm doing while killing a larger enemy using stealth, and this one is going to hurt badly. My hands were just inches away from my target before I got on my tip toes then slipped my left hand around and over his mouth and tripped him back over my left leg as I crouched to my right knee having my left leg supporting me and now his back. Knife in right hand I brought it around his lower abdomen and above his left side then stabbed into his flesh as deep as I could with all my force putting the five inch blade deep inside the cavity before I jerked my arm back slicing his entire abdomen wide open all in just one swift motion countering his struggling effectively. I felt resistance as the knife cleaved through his flesh and several organs causing me to yank the handle harder feeling what should be his yells through my hand. I sheared my knife through his right side then got leverage with my left leg and lifting him up slightly with both hands only to knee him right in the spine with my left leg that supported his body which vaulted him over my leg where I lifted his legs with force over my own. The moon light highlighted the slimy entrails, gore, and pieces of flesh from my view as it all flew out of the slice in his abdomen overhead behind me to land around us with a sickening wet slap as he landed hard on the ground behind me. There was a mess of pink, white, and red digestive tethers underneath him, and he was still alive in tremendous pain with blood oozing out his mouth. He was trying to reach his uzi that fell next to him but I kicked it out of his reach before stomping on his entrails splattering more gore and making him grunt and convulse bringing a small smile to my face.

Fahrenheit used Swift on another man during my kill. His first star made a clean cut through the other guard's neck where his head got forced up as blood got pumped out of his body causing the headless body to spasm then fall.

The last one was tougher. I quickly ran to my last target who was still gagging from watching his friends die in front of him. However, as soon as he saw me he pulled out his uzi. I was already in range to counter where I extended my left arm out as I twisted my body out of the line of his gun before grappling my extended arm around his forearm with the gun which tucked his arm tightly against my side as I gripped his wrist. Thanks to my inferior size I decided to face his direction, jump and plant my feet on his shins before twisting my body further back with his arms still caught. The result was a grappling move that brought the adult down to his face thanks to the momentum I gave with the twist of my body that threw myself on top of him. I rolled away with the fall and back onto my feet with my knife in hand concluding that fast counter attack.

"You think it's so fun to beat the crap out of pokémon huh?" I interrogated.

"Fuck you… I ain't… letting myself get m-manhandled by a kid," he struggled as he rolled to his back.

He looked at the uzi that landed far from him causing me to storm up to him and hammer my knife down onto his stomach causing him to cough in pain. The blood shot around my arm as I let go leaving the knife there and stepping back smiling. "Do it."

Fahrenheit responded by unleashing a plume of lava from the ground beneath the grunt where I still saw his astonished, pained face staring at the knife in his stomach. The lava illuminated his expression further before his body started thrashing out followed by him screaming in agony within a fraction of a second. The bloodcurdling screams were coupled by his legs and arms literally bursting into fire as he slowly began sinking where his back disintegrated. He tried to scream but couldn't from his pained coughs, but I could tell he was begging for mercy from the big, fearful look in his eyes. It was like he wanted to cry but couldn't as he saw his whole life literally melt before his eyes. The lava engulfed half his laying form causing his body to unexpectedly ignite in flames as I saw his limbs desperately flailing about with no escape. Then I looked towards his torso to see it explode with a stomach-turning "pop" sound from the boiling blood. Blood caked flesh and bone shards landed on us while his whole body sunk into the lava enshrouding him in flames. It was a perfect ending for this piece of shit.

However, I was afraid all the noise caused us too much attention but I saw no unusual movement from the facility on my ENA. After several seconds the attack began, Fahrenheit's lava disappeared still leaving a flaming body.

"The fire fight can wait. They were beating something up back here," I reminded as I moved towards the pokémon they were intentionally beating. Once I got close enough I saw a small ball of grey fur matted up, dirtied, and full of dry blood with shockingly dark colored diseased wounds full of puss. "Oh Arceus no, please don't…"

I was right when I mentally guessed the pokémon earlier: Absol, and a near dying one... This picture caused my heart to sink. These grunts were beating an innocent pokémon that was probably confused; and not just any pokémon but a rare one. My first thought was to examine the absol. I got closer then slowly and cautiously reconfigured the body into a more suitable position. I put my fingers under the elbow to feel for a pulse. This absol was still alive and breathing thankfully, but as I moved the limbs around to examine her I could feel individual bones along the limbs and rib cage all around the bony, frail structure causing my stomach to turn sharply. There wasn't a sign of meat or fat at all, just rough fur, skin, and bone. I even began rubbing the blade on the head to find it rough and very dull. Those men we just slowly killed are dead or still dying but I'm still very pissed out of my mind for every bump or cut I lightly felt the harder I gritted my teeth in frustration.

"It's a malnourished absol," I worried.

"…But, isn't that the pokémon on your List of 40…Oh Arceus, I feel really different right now," he answered as I kept looking over the body.

"Yeah, but…" I got a clear view of its face then to my surprise the Absol lashed around in front of me as if it was panicking onto its chest giving me full view of the pokémon. It was now alert and very much awake but still clearly exhausted and struggling just to breathe properly as the head was rested on its paws.

"Absol, female… barely even one years old. This is horrible!" It was a very small absol; still a cub about the size of Jewel which is a foot shorter than the average absol. Her eyes were barely opened since I saw bruising around the lids. "I'm going to heal her," I warned without hesitation. I'm not leaving a cub here to die.

"What about the assignment!" he argued while seeming to lose his balance as he walked towards me.

"Fuck it…You okay?" I asked with more worry observing his movements before seeing him double over on two legs.

"Yeah… yeah," he panted before regaining self control, "Anyways her wounds are so bad not even our potions and equipment can heal her!"

"I'll just have to try damn it. She'll die if I just walk away. Did you see what they were doing to her earlier?" I protested reaching over for my pack and taking out a couple of supplies. However before I could even touch her she sprung further up now lying with her head up looking alert.

"Sol sol, ab… sol," she began with a surprised expression before she finished with a frightened scream as she shook her head rapidly. She then shut her eyes and got low to the ground tucking her head in between her paws.

"It's okay, I won't hurt you," I soothed as gently as possible even though it's hard for me to do that seeing her condition. I looked over at Fahrenheit then asked, "Fahrenheit, what did she s…" I lost my thought from feeling trembles within ground beneath me. It was mild but then it got more violent in seconds throwing me off balance. "E-Earthquake!" I yelled stumbling over.

"Oh shit…" Fahrenheit was losing more balance than before. "Look out!" he boomed at the top of his lungs.

Above us were large rocks tumbling down the stone cliff wall and into the valley.

"Shit this wall is about to give way!" I stumbled over to the Absol, picked her up as carefully as possible, and ran far away from the cliff side with Fahrenheit leading the way. I heard the rocks colliding loudly on each other behind me.

I fell on my knees from loss of balance but still kept the absol safe. This is a big earthquake, could it be a warning that Mount Chimney may erupt? I looked over at the volcano, but instead I was awe struck by an amazing sight before it. One of the great towers in the oil plant began falling over on top of the pipes. As the metal collided a giant explosion resulted that illuminated the whole setting around us. The shock wave broke three other tall, concrete towers causing them to fall onto its own structure just like the first. I was then immediately blinded by a flash of light quickly followed by a loud, deafening explosion. After squinting my eyes for a few seconds I saw a giant cloud of smoke ascend upwards followed by a fire ball. The oil ignited the whole facility. After a minute the ground stopped shaking. The only sound was smaller explosions and the raging inferno in front of us. The pipes were sprouting fiery streams around the site. Seconds later I heard distant screams. I took out my binoculars and observed an eerie scene of flaming bodies staggering away from the fire before succumbing to the burns and small groups of grunts trying to run only to get obliterated by a nearby explosion which got them swallowed by fireballs.

"Dialga Palkia…" I merely spoke. I was so shocked by the scene before us that I forgot I had the absol in my arms. She was passed out in my arms but still breathing thankfully. I checked my ENA for any signatures to see them drop one by one as time passed and not even the patrolling sentries survived that blast. We were the furthest ones out. "The assignment is complete!" I called out.

"Whoa- holy shit," Fahrenheit mumbled. I looked over at Fahrenheit to see him stumbling around. "I feel… funny sir! I th… think I'm gonna…" As he spoke a white, blinding light enveloped his whole body causing my expression to gape further. I don't know which was brighter; him or the inferno. His form began changing within seconds before me. Next thing I knew, his form took up a much greater, broader form that grew nearly three feet higher and stood only on two short legs as a typhlosion.

After the light faded Fahrenheit was standing full and straight with his new eyes pressed down in an intimidating expression. He inhaled then stretched out his arms to his sides as he roared tremendously towards the sky in what looked like triumph with the back of his neck wildly blazing. The blazing inferno below illuminated the half of his body that was exposed to it as his opposite features were shadowed which created a grand, surreal atmosphere about him as he achieved a physically strong form. He was now around a half foot taller then me as he stood on his hind legs. The fire spouting off his neck and shoulders illuminated the cream colored fur on his underbelly and navy blue fur on his back.

"Damn, I saw those fire works from way over here!" The helicopter pilot yelled through my earpiece.

"Copy that, my assignment is complete, but we need immediate extraction! I have a critically downed pokémon who needs immediate attention!" I informed the pilot.

"Roger, ETA to your position is one minute," a different voice, the practitioner, responded. I looked at my ENA to find a purple diamond three miles away from me showing the Bell 412.

"Damn, I feel more alive! I'm now bigger and stronger than ever before!" Fahrenheit yelled enthusiastically.

"Yes, congratulations on the evolution, but we can celebrate later. This Absol is literally slipping away from life in my arms. Her breathing is getting weaker and weaker by the minute," I panicked.

"I can hear the chopper approaching now. Hell yeah, my hearing's better too!" he beamed with a sharp toothy grin.

After he said that I heard then saw the dark helicopter appear above the tree line quickly descending for us. The pilot circled around us when he was fifteen feet above the ground then finally touched down. I immediately ran to the passenger door, slid it open, jumped in followed by Fahrenheit shutting the door. I felt the force of weight being pushed down as we ascended back up. The medic was already in the back of the cabin preparing a medical table and stretcher.

"This pokémon was beaten nearly to death and is malnourished. I don't know if she has any other problems but she most likely does have more," I informed the medic.

He took the Absol gently out of my hands and set ser on the stretcher. "Yes, her body structure is critically weak; I feel several broken limbs. Is she yours?" he asked while examining the pokémon.

"No, I found her getting beaten by some sentries."

"Then why did you bring her?" He was preparing all sorts of IV's and got her hooked up to two different machines.

"I couldn't leave her! Why, you can't help her just because she's not mine?" I basically threatened.

"No nothing like that. The problem is this is going to be a two hour flight back. She's very young and weak so I can only give her a small dosage of antibiotics. Since she's small we have to keep her in a stable state but can't use the machines since that can further weaken her immune system. This chopper doesn't have the proper equipment I need. Once we get to the mansion we'll take care of whatever problems are left. So the only way to keep her stable is in a pokéball and keeping it in the Pokéball Revival Chamber." He pointed to a large white machine further in the back. I recognize the machine from every Pokémon Center used to heal pokémon when they're in a ball.

I put in everything he said into mind. "Shit… okay, but it can't heal her?"

"Her injuries are too critical. It will only stabilize her system which will buy us time."

Oh Arceus, I had vowed to myself that before I capture a pokémon I had to make sure they accepted coming along with me. I know I can't keep her because if I do then saving her would be for nothing. I just don't want this absol to die. Fuck, I never knew I would ever lay eyes on an absol but now having the opportunity to catch one is tempting- No…I fucking can't train her, damn it! If I do she will die along with all of us in the end…

Once we touched down at the helipad over the mansion, everyone exited the helicopter. The pilot and medic made there way to the rooftop door rolling the stretcher with the absol, who is now captured, while Fahrenheit and I walked over to the stairway leading to the Don's balcony. I walked in through the curtains next to the Don's desk followed by Fahrenheit to report my assignment being the last step of each routine for an assassin.

"The task was a success," I casually told to him.

"I can see that," he responded happily pointing over to a wall mounted flat screen T.V. on the far wall. The news channel was on and the screen showed a blazing inferno from a sky copter. On the ground were fire fighters and water pokémon trying to put out the fire. "They think it was a faulty design of a drill which released a fault," he laughed, "No one saw you, your pokémon, or your transport. It's music to my ears every time I hear the death toll. You are dismissed." He was doing the "shooing out" hand gesture towards me as he smiled towards the T.V.

Fahrenheit and I walked down the third floor hallway towards the stairs. "Well I'm glad that the only people that died were only part of the Mafia," I stated.

"Yeah, Arceus I can't believe I evolved. Wait 'till Jewel and Celsius see me!" He bragged.

"Yeah, like I said congratulations!" I smiled happily, "Now both you and Celsius are at your final state."

"Mmhmm, but I can tell sir, you're still worrying over if that absol will be okay of not. She's basically yours now-"

"No she's not. As soon as she's okay to leave I'm releasing her," I told as we proceeded down the stairs.

"But sir you love absol-"

"Exactly why I can't have one. Face it, Fahrenheit, you and I know what we're up against here," I convinced facing him.

"So you're going to propose freedom to her…just like when you did me, except I refused and made the right decision to stay with you. Rayn, you are the best, strongest trainer anyone can seriously ask for," he backed touchingly, "Being with you is the best decision I've ever made, and she will see how expert of a leader you are. I know you want her, besides you're the greatest!" he played as he shouldered me to the side with enough surprising strength to have me catch the wall for support.

"Better watch that strength of yours Fahrenheit," I smirked before attempting to shoulder him back but only nudging him a couple inches only to see him chuckle at my effort as he patted my back, "All I need is just Celsius and you. Fahrenheit, I'm glad you joined my team," I spoke "high fiving" his paw; something I've never done before. Seeing his new attitude did lighten up my mood.

Many minutes later Fahrenheit and I were about to meet Celsius down in intensive care located fairly far from the main mansion. We entered the building walking into a large lobby brightly lit by florescent fixtures. I saw Celsius was sitting in one of the waiting chairs in the lobby. As we got close she saw us where she jumped off and nearly ran to us before she stopped being astonished as she clearly stared at Fahrenheit.

"Oh my….Fahrenheit! You evolved!" she marveled as she circled his form. He was almost meeting her at eye level but a blaziken is still naturally taller than a typhlosion.

"Hehe, liking the new me all of a sudden, Celsius?" he teased as he followed her examining him.

"Well, if you mean I finally have a strong ally then yes," she answered smirking.

"Damn right, I'm now bigger and stronger than ever before!" he declared even flexing his biceps causing me to shake my head from his boasting.

"Okay, let's not get cocky, Fahrenheit," I commented, "Besides we're not out of our problems yet."

"Yeah, a service maid told me you wanted me down here? I thought you two got wounded, what happened?" Celsius worried.

"Master basically just saved a pokémon's life but he's refusing to keep her 'cause he thinks she'll die along with us. We came to check on her," he explained.

"She?" Celsius asked seeming intent. I could've sworn she sounded aggressive according to her tone. "Well…wouldn't the vets inform you through the service phone when they would finish up with her?"

"Yes true, but the thing is she was nearly beaten to death. If you saw her…Arceus it was horrible it sickened me to my stomach to see such a pokémon be in that condition, and it was just after I disemboweled and ordered him to sauder the people that did that to her… it was that horrific Celsius. I just can't sleep not knowing if she's going to make it or not."

"Look, you don't need to worry about her. You just came back from a dangerous assignment so you two should rest-"

"But…she basically belongs to me now. I had to capture her in order to keep her condition stable."

I saw Celsius take a small step back upon hearing this which appeared odd to me like as if she was shocked. "Wh-what kind of pokémon is it?" she questioned shakily.

I sighed, "She's an absol. Not even fully matured yet, malnourished, full of infected wounds…probably confused not knowing why she was beaten up…" I looked at Celsius who was speechless. However she nodded approving the situation where I went to the front desk to request to see her.

"Sir, M-14 sir?" Quickly shaking my head awake rubbing my eyes and cracking them open I looked over at the caller to see a man dressed in a white coat. "The operation was a success. We healed everything that was broken and she'll recover through. There was moderate hemorrhage near the lungs and ulcers in the stomach so we got some blood transfused and surgically repaired the damage. Four of her ribs were fractured, she had a minor concussion, her left leg was snapped but we got that mended together into a cast, and her right hind leg was dislocated which is now back in place. Also she's still receiving antibiotics to treat her infections. After she's discharged however she will have to be put on a healthy diet, but luckily she lives at the mansion with you now."

I winced at every last detail he explained but was very thankful knowing that she was recovering well. "Is it okay for me to go in there right now?" I asked groggily feeling my throat was very parched after waiting in sleep for who knows how long.

"Yes, it's fine. Just try not to bother her. She's malnourished so she's receiving water from IV and in taking food medically, so she's still hooked up."

"Thank you," I concluded before stretching then rising out of my waiting chair. I saw that Fahrenheit was passed out on a chair clearly exhausted from evolving with drool trailing down the corner of his mouth getting me to chuckle at the scene, and Celsius was also sleeping soundly.

I got up then groggily proceeded to the room. The room was dimmed and lit by only one light fixture at the entrance of the room. There she was. The small absol was on a medical bed partially covered by a blanket, bandaged up on over sixty percent of her body from my viewpoint against the center of a wall in the back. Her left wrist was shaved nearly bare so the needle could be inserted to feed in antibiotics and water. She was shaved and stitched in many other areas of her torso too. I found a tube leading to her abdomen area knowing that was other nourishment and many other tubes containing various bodily fluids were tangled under the bed proving the work done to her. I was so relieved to see her pushing through but it pained me to see that she went through a lot before I found her.

Seeing any pokémon like this makes me upset. Why are there so many bad, heartless people in the world that harm pokémon for game? She probably wants comfort right now but can't obtain it from anyone. Who knows what could have happen to her before. She's emaciated which means she could be a runaway from a trainer or her pack. Either way I feel deeply sorry which is why I'm choosing to sleep near her tonight. She may need someone near her. Who knows what she has lost.

I pulled a chair up to the bed. I looked closer at her body to see they actually cleaned her, but I also noticed something strange. I don't know if I must've been very tired and started imagining things, but her scythe horn had a blue and black Arcanine pattern! I saw blue and black zig-zag stripes across her horn with a metallic red, wavy pattern trim along the sharp edge of her horn like the shiny absol red color. I looked at other places but saw the other growths on her head looked normal blue. I lifted up the blanket gently. Just like the horn, I saw the edge of her tail was colored red in a wavy pattern and the blue and black Arcanine striped pattern was colored throughout the planes. I've never seen an Absol with that kind of color before anywhere. I set those details to the side for later so that I could check it in the morning when I'm not exhausted. I dosed off lying back on the chair shortly.

"M-14, come on get your ass up." I jumped a little from the sudden wakeup call feeling tapping on my shoulder where I looked up with my eyes still halfway open. "I just got back from my assignment and heard you're down here," I heard M-4 speak seeing him walk over to the blinds on the window then tilting all of them open. I grunted loudly then shielded my eyes away from the morning sun seeing that M-4 was still dressed like an assassin with his weapons still on him.

"Damn what the fuck! Dialga, I just woke up and you introduce me to this shit!" I snapped rubbing my pained eyes.

"Well my bad, shit. I just wanted to say that that game you gave me the other night is fucking bad ass, dude! I already learned how to take off and even land and shit. I didn't know it was so easy-"

"Cool, cool, good to hear," I quickly responded still regaining my posture then getting up.

"Yeah, so what are you doing down here, what happened?"

I looked over the bed to see the absol was still sleeping and recovering. I was happy to see that the feeding tube was removed. "I found her from my assignment. Those prick bastard grunts were beating the shit out of her before I stopped them, painfully I should add. I'm here for her," I explained.

"Shit, I heard something about some 'catastrophic disaster' near a volcano. I'm glad that you actually helped her though. I would've done the same unlock the other assassins around here. I bet you killed those bastards good," he smirked.

"M-4, her injuries made me sicker than what I did to those guys; at least they deserved what they got." After I said that a nurse came in and checked the machines and other equipment jotting down notes on a clipboard. "Excuse me, but I noticed some odd markings on the absol's horn and tail. Can that be a sign of a condition?" I quickly asked.

"Ah, yes," she began as she proceeded to the sleeping absol to scan the coloration of her horn and tail. "The unique pattern and coloration is actually not a condition. In some rare cases there have been individual packs, herding groups, and even organized family clans of pokémon that phenomenally contained members born with unique pigment markings which differentiates them from rival packs. I'm guessing she was born into a unique pack of absol."

"Huh, I see. Very interesting, thank you," I marveled looking at the absol.

"Holy crap, her fuckin' horn's beasty as fuck. M-14 you know that's beast dude!" M-4 boasted as he looked at her next to me. I only smiled a little still disappointed about the fact this absol was separated from her pack and has to find her way back. "She's on our list too. You only found her and brought her here? Lucky ass mother fucker!"

"No," I sighed turning around to get my pokémon, "She pretty much belongs to me now. In order to buy her some time to live I had to capture her."

"Holy Palkia, that's beast! She's like the beastiest lookin' pokémon ever with those arcanine stripes on her scythe-"

"But I'm releasing her."

"The hell, why?"

"Because if I keep her with me here then healing her would've been for nothing. M-4, my pokémon and I are prepared to die! I don't want her to be recruited without even knowing what she's fighting for," I explained, "I rather have her find her home and family where she belongs."

"Dialga, you expect her to just walk all the way back from Slateport to Mount Chimney? She's just a cub, she won't make it in the world probably not even knowing how to hunt with a shit yet-"

"She'll die for sure if she's with me," I argued.

"Quit acting like it's the end of shit here! I've told you I'll make sure we come out alive and fine! She's got a better chance here than out here. You can't argue around that can you?" As we exited the room I still looked at him coming to the conclusion that he may be right. I flung my head the other way cursing in defeat now caught in another indecisive situation that could change my life, and it's only been a couple days since I was in the other situation. "Hey, get your pink ass over here now!" I heard M-4 yelled over at Jewel. She was talking to Fahrenheit again and I clearly saw her swooning over his new form.

"Don't fuck with nature M-4," I scolded before looking back through the doorway at the absol's health level on the monitor seeing it normal, "I…I really don't know what I should do after she recovers man," I sighed, "The doctor told me she needs a healthy diet for the next couple of months to make a full recovery."

"Wait you're not going to keep her, right?" Celsius inquired, "I-I mean… I think we have enough firepower already and just bringing in a cub would make training a lot more difficult. Plus, Garand won't allow her to stay if she won't participate in assignments."

"You think so- Well I don't know yet, but as much as I want to keep her because of her species I just can't handle training her to become corrupted. I mean you know I adore the way her kind looks."

"Look sir, I think you should ask her yourself when she's all better to see if she wants to go through what we go through. I mean she basically has nowhere to go, and being so young hunting and surviving in the wild will be too hard. If she stays with us she has shelter and food and all she has to do is trust you and help you in assignments after training," Fahrenheit added.

"Arceus, telling her those kinds of benefits and exceptions would make me sound like Garand. I remember him telling me exactly what you just said," I told.

"Look, it's a win-win deal. I mean I know you like her kind. Besides, didn't I hear you say that you have to put her on a healthy diet for a couple months? If you release her then she'll definitely die."

I could only stand there looking at my pokémon and taking his words greatly to mind. "Damn it, you're right!...Fine, I have to keep her, but I'm only keeping her for two months. After she's gotten healthier I'll have her released, but until then she will not participate in training or assignments."

"Now we're getting somewhere. Hell maybe she might like how we do things and stay if you ask her," Fahrenheit smiled.

Celsius snarled loudly with her head draped down looking irritated as she listened to Fahrenheit and I. "What's wrong," I asked her. She said nothing but I knew something was up.

"Jeez, jealous much," Fahrenheit seemed to have teased Celsius.

"Hmm, I do sense some of your energy emitting strong jealousy," Jewel commented walking up to us.

"You know what… I have to agree, you do look jealous, Celsius," I pointed out.

"I am not Jealous damn it!" she lashed out suddenly even startling M-4 who was on his phone away from the group. "So what if she joins us, what do I care?"

"Are you sick?" I noticed worriedly, "Maybe that's why you're in a bad mood because you're cheeks look redder than normal." I heard Fahrenheit and even Jewel chuckle a bit getting me to glare at them because she might have something.

"Okay, okay, let's just chill out guys, she's just another teammate Celsius," M-4 spoke walking along side us.

"Wait a second, Jewel, can't you just wish her back to good health just like you did me?" I asked.

"No, I can only use that move if someone doesn't have a pulse," Jewel answered.

"M-14, if Jewel was that good I might as well should've wished absol a home. Hell, I would've told her to wish the Don to drink acid until he dissolves then have money fall from the sky. What does she look like, Jirachi?" M-4 jeered.

"However, I can prove useful with other things even though she's a dark type." Jewel stated, "I can look through her past and see what had occurred to her."

"Whatever, you just want to be near Fahrenheit," Celsius responded still appearing aggravated, "But if she's gonna stay then we might as well figure out just what in the hell happened."

As we all went into the room where absol was resting I looked at the monitor to see the bpm read incredibly high. That quickly had me scanning the absol to find that she was whimpering and trembling in her sleep! Upon closer inspection it appeared like she was having a night mare. She was shivering, her eye lids were shaking, and she was even yelping subtly. She also kicked a few times.

Shit, what the fuck should I do?" I panicked, "I want to stop her nightmare!"

"Nothing, that's all you can do but wait," Celsius told, "The monitor might have alerted a nurse so she might be here any minute with morphine."

Thinking whether her answer was valid or not I just decided to step away from the bed and have the dream take its course not wanting to make matters worse. I kept switching my attention to the monitor seeing her heart rate spike up dramatically to around 180 beats per minute. After another minute she finally stopped causing me to sigh in relief and have my nerves relax. I took a step forward and saw that her eye lids were slightly trembling. Her brows seemed to have pierced together until they retracted up slowly followed by her lids. Within a couple seconds the absol slowly opened her eyes having me stand closely in amazement, and seconds later she tried to move a little but grunted to a stop where I saw her deep red eyes look my way as she panted on the bed.

"Don't move," I said softly holding my arms out, "Everything is going to be alright now." I tried to bring my hand closer to her but she growled viciously at me in defense. Her surprisingly sharp, pure white canines showed through her snarling.

"M-14, that's probably not a good idea," M-4 added stepping back.

I knew it was a bad but I had to try and interact anyway since its better letting her know she's in safe hands now. I stepped away, but she calmed only a little. She scanned around slowly probably taking in the new sights of an all white room with giant weird objects next to her and hooked up to her from the inside. The new scene around her only overwhelmed her though as she attempted to stand on all fours only to fall back. She then violently rolled around which threw off her blanket and entangled the wiring and tubing around her.

"Oh my Arceus, she's worse than I thought," Celsius shocked.

Then she loudly whined in pain as some of the tubing was pulling out of her wrists and other locations. A nurse that was alerted about her high heart rate from earlier came barging through us to try and untangle the equipment but the closer she got she quickly took notice of the pokémon threatening her with her teeth.

"It's okay we got shit under control. Get out of here," M-4 informed the nurse as he looked at Jewel. Next thing I saw was that the perimeter of the absol was enshrouded in a turquoise shroud as the espeon's eyes glowed the same color. The absol whined and yelped as her eyes darted from side to side, but she didn't move so I quickly went in and carefully undid the mess of wires off of her still keeping everything connected while checking if anything unhooked. Once I stood back Jewel had released the hold on the absol where she began to talk using her species name but M-4 and I did not understand. She talked slowly and sounded like she was struggling as she panted and wheezed. "Jewel, translate," M-4 ordered.

The familiar feeling I always feel when Jewel talked to me had intensified as did the glow in her eyes. "Now everyone in this room can understand the Absol," Jewel told M-4.

"What's… g-going on," M-4 and I looked over at the Absol who was standing and limping around the bed. Her voice echoed through the telepathic link sounding distressed and with a young teenage girl's tone like as if she was confused and lost to best compare it.

"It's okay… I rescued you," I spoke slowly, "We're all only here to help."

The absol could only stare at me with a confused look. Then her expression changed to an angered one. "No! You lying scum bag! I don't want to go back! Why can't I just be put out of my miser instead! I beg of you, just kill me and have my body!" she yelled through the link causing my ears to ring.

"What the…fuck," I muttered not expecting that kind of response at all, "No, no. You're safe now-"

"No… lies, all lies. Why is this always happening!" she began sobbing through the link where I saw her head tucked under her paws as she wept helplessly nearly breaking my heart to see such a thing.

"Please, listen to me! I have you in a safe place; you're not going to get hurt again."

"You're just like… them, selling me back with the others" she growled, "I can never leave this hell!" she screamed still hiding her face from us.

"Selling back?" I asked the group behind me seeing confused responses all around.

"She could've been sold to a bad trainer," Celsius answered.

"No…I think it could be much worse than that. Keep asking her questions," Fahrenheit urged worriedly.

"What… happened to you?" I asked now getting really worried.

"Why, would you all care? I came from Hell, and now you're going to put me back! I hate you all; taking fun in watching others suffer! And now humans are involved too!" she screamed at us now rising up on all fours revealing her tear soaked face which I saw past the anger was full of fright. As I guessed she was a very small, still frail absol compared to the average size but now she was cleaned up to a white color.

"Okay, fuck this. Jewel, scan her memory," M-4 commanded.

"Yes Master…" I felt the intensity in my mind lower where I shook my head from the pain I felt.

"Arceus, was her pain transmitted to all of us?" Celsius asked.

"Yes, and I'm about to find out why," Her eyes glowed as she stared at the absol who was now bawling on the bed with her body turned curled around having her head over her hind legs as she covered herself from all of us with her paws. "Hmm, that explains why she's scared of all of us but what does this have to do with her?"

"You can see something?" M-4 asked.

"Yes, but hold…on" she spaced out as she concentrated, "Oh my Arceus, no!" she gasped.

"What happened?" her trainer demanded.

"Wait," she responded, "Palkia- Master I request to discontinue, please!"

"Permission granted. What did you see!" Jewel walked away from the bed and trotted to the middle of the room with her gaze lowered as she was sweating profusely causing me and M-4 to look at each other with worry.

"I think I'm going to be ill…" she spoke before walking over to Fahrenheit. Fahrenheit in return gently wrapped his arms around her trying to calm her down where she took a seat in front of his lap. The Absol was still whining at the corner of the bed. "Of all the things I've witnessed I have never seen anything as brutal as her life. Master, picture the summary of our lives from the past eight years. Hers… is five times worse than ours and only in a span of ten to twelve months. She's a runaway…"

"You're fucking with us…" M-4 spoke sounding appalled which is rare but Jewel shook her head.

"A runaway… okay well judging from how she looked she did look like she had ran away from a trainer or her own pack-"

"No," she interrupted me, "She ran from a bad place trying to get away with her life still intact. When she said 'Hell' she meant the death camp she ran from. She's a runaway slave," she informed me as a tear rolled down her cheek.

As soon as she said that the absol whined louder so I walked over to Jewel, kneeled in front of her and asked quietly, "What do you mean by slave? Like humans using her for labor or-"

"No… much worse, sir. It's just as I thought," Fahrenheit answered as Jewel's eyes glowed towards M-4 so he could understand Fahrenheit. "I've heard many stories and have actually seen some aftermaths of victims myself. Slaves, feral slaves, or pokémon slaves to which they're called are pokémon, who are captured, branded and tagged, and are basically forced into the labor of amusing services tending to other, more sadistic pokémon who are sick enough to purchase a slave. It's not just human labor; it's far worse than that. When I say 'amusing services' I mean sexually like forced mating or being tortured to death for fun using any kind of tool. It's so out of this world and unbelievable but slavers take fun in just torturing and massacring slaves that are useless."

"Other pokémon, what in fuck's name do you mean by that," M-4 nearly panicked which is not like him.

"Yeah, services…selling and purchasing…torturing! Is this some kind of sick business?" Celsius added.

"In the pokémon wild there are actually four things to worry about: food, shelter, predators… and slavers. Slavers are the sadistic pokémon that make money out of just kidnapping pokémon and selling them for profit. These guys may not deserve to walk the Earth but they are extremely intelligent. The first few slavers ever formed followed the precedents of human civilization eventually creating camps, an economy, and a security which they just call the state. They're secretive to humans and try to remain that way. They're tactical, deceiving fucks that work together around this nation kidnapping and trafficking pokémon. They're tactical because they actually train themselves how to use firearms; exactly why she's scared of us right now, because M-4 is still dressed like an assassin." We all looked at M-4 seeing his weapons flash out as they were placed on his back and belt.

"Whoops…" he spoke nervously.

"They've branched all over this region and the surrounding regions ruled by a couple of overseers. Slavers, as I've said, are very smart and organized. They use human technology like computers, metal reinforced structures, everything there is by stealing them. That's how pokémon in the wild tell the difference between normal pokémon and slaver pokémon. Slaver pokémon carry guns." I could only listen feeling my jaw about to fall off as I never knew such a thing existed which actually made this whole story hard to believe. I mean pokémon using human technology like toys just to torture others in gruesome ways? "I was basically lectured about these slavers when I was young. They have a long, complicated ass history. The first slave running pokémon began three centuries ago. Rumors say it started with a huge feud between two pokémon races: absol and houndoom. It was like a warzone. These species hate each other's guts more than seviper and zangoose. One thing led to another so the houndoom packs around the Johto Region began capturing absol prisoners and anyone else who supported them. At the time absol could be found around Johto too, but then their numbers fell after these slave trading camps began when the pack leaders bartered the prisoners to other packs of pokémon who allied with them. At this point in history slaves were actually used just for labor to hunt and find food, but even after the feud ended the houndoom still led trafficking because they found that it's a great way to obtain currency and more pack numbers for luxury and all of that. However, it only ran because of the demand. Even though the feud was over the absol slaves were still used but for far worse things. It became gruesome, like using them as live practice dummies, forcing them into 'suicide missions' for packs, mating and inflicting pain just for pleasure. Once those things began, slavers were getting hired and just about any pokémon that was worth anything was getting captured which leads to the slavers of today who are only found real deep within the wilds."

"But that doesn't make any sense. How come I never hear about this on the news?" I asked shocked.

"Because accounts say that the technologies they possess are able to do something to humans to forget what they saw if they get too close to a camp or caravan," Jewel now took over, "Human brain waves are a lot smaller in frequency than pokémon. If one steps near a camp they immediately go into paralysis, then slavers move that person back to a route so they don't create suspicion. That's why only a few humans know about this, but they can't do anything because no one accepts their stories. Another reason is that these camps and caravans are far away from human civilization, as Fahrenheit said, deep in the wild."

"That's fucking unbelievable…How can they get that technology?" I just couldn't believe that there are pokémon sadistic enough to turn our technologies against themselves. Slave camps well hidden, caravans, weapons; it all sounds made up. It's just unfuckingbelievable…

"What's really screwed is that she's just a cub…" Fahrenheit added, "Those fucks make me far more sick than the mafia honestly."

"Ok enough of this shit! Right now we have to concentrate on getting this absol to open up," Celsius yelled out. She was even more astounded than I was as she kept trembling and trotting around the room. Shaken up from the horrors of slavers she must've wanted to not hear anymore. After all she's never been in the true wild.

I got back to the Absol who was by now calm. She was laying down looking at me right in the eyes. It was like those scarlet eyes of hers were seeking my intentions.

"So you're just called 'Absol' by other pokémon?" I felt telepathic intensity rise in my head again.

"Stop with your sick jokes…" She struggled, "Luckily you heartless fucks actually thought for a second and decided not to brand me seeing I'm still too young, but getting pierced is still humiliating!"

I remembered that enslaved pokémon got tagged instead of named. I brought my hand over to her head to try and see if there was indeed a tag but she growled as soon as I got close, but I kept going. I had to see if any of this was true. My hand was half a foot away from the side of her head and by now her teeth were bared. I slowly brought my hand closer and as soon as I touched her fur she swung her head quickly. I grunted in pain and yelled a little as she successfully impaled my right forearm around an inch deep.

"Hurts doesn't it, Slaver? Don't you just want to kill me yourself?" I felt the temperature rising and heard flames expounding as Fahrenheit ignited his neck and Celsius ignited her wrists.

"It's okay… stand down," I commanded through gritted teeth bringing up my left unharmed arm to prevent any movement.

My arm still impaled I used my other arm and kept moving in to the point of digging into her fur. She moved her head to sink her horn deeper and by now my own blood was trickling down her horn and ending up in a dark puddle on the bed and her fur. I just kept feeling for a hard piece in her deep fur with my left hand. Finally after an agonizing twenty seconds I found something hard and pulled it through her thick fur that was located behind the sickly shaped fur pattern on her left side. It was a yellow rectangular piece with the numbers "176 2 004" engraved on it. I let go of the tag and yanked my arm away feeling her horn pull out very painfully. On the bottom of my throbbing right forearm was a very deep cut three inches long draining blood in a red, branched tributary around my arm meeting all on the floor.

"Holy shit, get that fixed," M-4 told.

"Yeah I will, and you two are right. I found that tag you were talking about," I informed with disbelief evident in my voice as I walked out of the room to get treated. "Can't believe this shit exists…" M-4 followed me out.

**(POV)**

"It's okay, I promise everything is going to be okay," Fahrenheit stated walking next to the absol's bed.

I followed him to the bed, stood on my hind legs, and kept my forepaws on the bed to get a better view. "Fahrenheit is right, you're in a safe place far away from slavers. I may not know all of your pain but it still hurts from what I saw. You see even though I was never a slave I witnessed one of my close friends being taken away by a slaver. I couldn't do anything, and if I tried I would've been captured too because eevee and our evolutions are at the top of their list in highest worth," I empathized softly.

As much as I want to forget what I saw that day, I can never erase it. And the truth is it wasn't only my friend that was taken but my brother as well. Where they had been taken to and their dark fate is something I will never know and something that's better left unanswered. It still haunts me to this day that I always ask myself what if I attacked or tried to defend. Would I have been captured as well, raped then brutally tortured, or actually succeeded in saving a life in exchange of my own? I doubt I would've succeeded since I was only an eevee that watched her brother and friend get taken from behind a bush in cover. I never told M-4 this story and I don't plan on it since he's gone through horrible things too. But that forever ongoing question from that memory helps my desire to get stronger yet I don't desire revenge. For years I put that image behind me.

The Absol growled before speaking, "If I'm lucky right now and you're right… humans are like slavers. Humans enslave pokémon to beat others."

"Oh and you mean that human you just stabbed?" Celsius interjected with intimidation.

"How you can stand him? He should never be trusted," the young cub responded.

"Our master is actually a very good human. He's allowed me to stay in a home, I'm allowed to eat, and he protects us just like we protect him. Everyday I appreciate what he has given us, me and Celsius," Fahrenheit added.

"Lies, all lies..."

"He just saved you, is that how you repay him?" Celsius nearly yelled.

"Celsius don't-" I warned her.

"He is returning me back to that camp!" the absol yelled with drops of pain evident.

Fahrenheit held his palm out towards Celsius to stop her arguing. "Please listen to me, that boy you just stabbed is a good person. Your torment is over. You can stay with us because we won't get you hurt at all."

"Or you can go home to your family if you don't want to be here. You're not a slave anymore," Celsius added.

As soon as Celsius said that the absol collapsed into a ball and cried in pain. "Her family's gone Celsius; all of them," I informed.

"Shit…" I heard her mutter shortly after I told her that, "She's…just like all of us."

"Why should I trust any of you?" she sobbed.

"You must give him a chance. He'll help you get better. We will all support you," Celsius spoke.

"I can give no one a chance!"

"Damn it!" Celsius screamed in frustration before walking away from the bed. She walked around the room pondering to herself, "You don't a have a choice, because if we release you you'll just starve to death. You better get used to him quick because for the next two months he's going to feed you with healthy food."

"Celsius, she's been through a lot. Her memories show betrayal. Her loved ones were taken from her at the age of two months, and ever since then she's been betrayed and lied to. Give her some time," I advised.

She then came back to the bed. "Look, Master is a very good hearted person. He felt bad that you were hurt so he helped you get back here to make you better. If he wasn't there then you wouldn't be here right now. You just hurt him real bad and he never did anything wrong. You have to trust him. He did a lot for you, and he's going to continue that."

The Absol looked away then looked at Celsius. "I'd rather he left me to die," she responded trembling in the corner of the bed letting a few tears trickle down her cheek, "I know that old trick you sickos pull off. 'Healthy food', is that a severed tail from a pokémon in a cell next to me, or is that endless doses of cum?"

"Oh my Arceus, what the fuck!" Fahrenheit mumbled snapping at his curse word now trailing around the room shaking his head muttering to himself.

I leaned forward on the bed to look the Absol in the eyes. Tears were streaming down her face as she was close to hyperventilating, but she turned away from everyone hiding herself under her paws. That's when I jumped on the bed even though I know I'm risking getting impaled by a dark type. I jumped behind her, which was not a good idea, and then I lightly tapped her shoulder already adding to the risk. She jumped back keeping a close eye on me but I decided it was right to get closer. She was still crying but not snarling as I approached her. Eventually she let me get close enough to where I nuzzled her getting her to relax. I heard her gasp as I grazed my neck along hers.

"It's okay, everything is going to be better now. Your hell is over and will never return," I spoke tenderly. At first she just stayed there but then she sunk onto me and sobbed over my shoulder. "Let it out. Let it all out." She took my suggestion. She was bawling on my shoulder. She needs to let out all of her emotions because no one deserves what she has gone through. I looked at Fahrenheit and Celsius who observed the moment with serious gazes. Since I'm a female that has witnessed these hideous actions she opened up to me first because females are the most wanted when it comes to services; especially when it comes to rare, attractive species. So she must've been around females like her who all felt the same way, and with all those feelings of fright and dread mended together it became her mental infrastructure. I resumed nuzzling her to get her calm around us. Even though she looked defensive, she's just terrified of everyone in the room because she thinks we're slavers in a camp right now.

"Are you feeling better?" I asked kindly. She nodded. I stepped back to look at her again. "Now then, their… caretaker," I began gesturing towards Celsius and Fahrenheit, "Their caretaker is a good person. I know this. I've seen him. He will definitely take great care of you. Those pokémon are happy, they are fed well, they live in great homes and are treated like how you would want to be treated; like a pokémon. But with their caretaker you're treated more than a pokémon; you're treated like family."

She looked at me with questioning eyes. "You see, our caretaker brought us in after asking us if we wanted to stay. He trained us to get stronger; he fed us, sheltered us, and protected us," Fahrenheit added, "He taught us to lead and made us well rounded which is something everyone wishes for. He's a great a person to belong with."

"Stronger…lead," the absol repeated with curiosity.

"Yeah, he taught us how to defend ourselves from bad people," Celsius backed up.

"How strong would I become to be a leader?" she asked now seeming interested.

Celsius approached her and bent over leaning against the bed's railing looking at the absol closely. "Really, really strong and powerful." And from that moment on I sensed the same exact energy we all feel each day when we look at the Don…

**(POV)**

"Please, come out here," I heard Fahrenheit's cries from around the corner of the suites hallway to find him leaning against M-4's suite door far down the long hallway. I continued walking to Master's suite still eavesdropping on him.

"I can't, Master is now prohibiting me since he found out I was with you," I faintly heard Jewel's cries from the other side of the door.

"Don't worry, just come out then we'll find a secluded place and come back here like nothing ever happened. Come on I'm begging. I can smell that sweet scent of your from out here."

"I want to so badly too but I can't do it. Master gets mad when he sees us together. He even told me if he sees me near you again he'll neuter you without M-14 knowing."

"Let him try it. I'm a Typhlosion I'll smoke him if he gets near my balls… wait I mean, don't take that the wrong way."

"No, you're right. It's really frustrating that my own master is blind. I have urges but he doesn't understand that because he says I'm a pokémon!"

"Oh, I have an idea. You should show your master who's master. We should mate right in front of him. That'd be so naughty!"

"What, are you crazy! Oh no, he's coming out of the shower! Quick I have to go I'll see you-" I heard her voice fading away.

"Jewel? Jewel! Arceus damn it, M-4!" he snapped balling up his fists.

I walked into Master's suite giggling to myself. "Tough love Fahrenheit, tough love… Although since I'm in my final form, am I going to act like how Jewel is acting right now when I go into heat? Nah, I have strong will power. Besides it'll only be every couple of years so it won't be a problem. Not like I'm going to pounce on Master and ride him out 'till his sheets catch fire for his first experience; I'm better than that."

To Be Continued

Arcanine Striped= Tiger Striped.

Sorry for that horrible sex scene. I'll make up to everybody soon.


	13. Chapter 12

AN: 18k+ words this chapter…sorry for those who just can't find the time to keep track of these long, excruciating chapters but I'm sure it'll be worth it in the end. Oh yeah, for those who remembered watching the first season of the pokemon anime and movies a long time ago when it was actually awesome there are real cameo references from those so be on the lookout!

Read and if you can if you don't mind drop a review or comment pretty please because they's are very supportive to me.

Chapter 12: May God be With Me

Out in the foliage within thick vegetation Celsius, Fahrenheit, as well as the recovering absol and I trekked deep within the Feliciano Property to locate a large enough clearing for a very important practice. We all walked in silence respectably through the forest north west of the property. Today is Mother's Day, and for the first time in years Celsius and I will show our appreciation to Mom.

As I walked I tried so hard to hold back my tears. Three Arceus damn years since that massacre! Through clenched fists I tried hard to repress those memories. Celsius was leading, but I can tell she was as distressed as I was. Fahrenheit escorted us empathetically. I brought Absol along to witness first hand why we hate the mafia so much further explaining to her how Celsius and I became assassins.

A few nights after she was discharged while I fed her and watched her eat to see her enjoy the new diet she was getting I explained a lot about that night my family was murdered, why I'm here, and why I kill people. When I told her as she ate she kept making eye contact with me and even stopping for a few minutes seeming to listen to my story, and as far as I knew she understood. I saw her now healthy features in the daylight. Her red edged and black and blue striped horn and tail were highlighted by the casting sunlight penetrating through the canopy. Her red eyes were piercing and sharpened as usual in a serious gaze reminding me of me with my brown eyes, well what used to be me.

Probably miles away from the mansion, even further than the training camps, we ended up passing the forest line into what I've been searching for. For a great distance we were surrounded by looming evergreen trees as we walked into the warm spring sunlight. After keeping my head down for the entire walk I finally looked up. It was a very calm, beautiful day. There wasn't a cloud in sight, the sun still hung high within the clear turquoise sky, and the foliage around didn't move an inch from any disturbances.

Earlier this morning I demanded one of the drivers to take me into the city, no questions asked, so I can buy a card, a balloon, and some flowers. Those were the items I could think of at the top of my head since I never concentrated on learning how to show special appreciation on these occasions. The owner of the bouquet shop seemed to know what I was trying to do so she recommended a large bundle of 30 assorted tulips ranging to purple, violet, red, and yellow bulbs speaking like she actually knew my mother's favorite flower because I really didn't. I took out the Mother's Day card from the bag I carried with a piece of paper. Kneeling down with a pencil in hand I wrote on the paper:

_Dear Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle, Aunt, Lithium… everyone that I knew and loved,_

_Happy Mothers Day Mom, Grandma, and Auntie and sorry that I didn't write these past three years but this letter is for everybody. I don't think I'm good at touching someone's heart through writing but Celsius and I want you all to know that we love each of you so much and we miss all of you. If we had ever upset anyone or did something bad I'm sorry, we're really sorry. I miss you all so dearly. I wish I could think of more to say, but as for us, we're living well in great luxury that everyone would wish for. We will be fine. We met a pokémon that supports us and wishes to say that he loves you too because he's now part of the family. His name is Fahrenheit. My new found pokémon is still getting used to my identity but she might not stay for a while. I hope each of you are having a great time in Heaven next to Arceus. I may not make it there anymore from the sins I've committed. I can't see you all once I die and for that I'm so deeply sorry. I'm creating a bad image for myself shaming you, Mom and Dad, but I must avenge you all. For now I'm hoping to make contact by these letters, and we'll be back next month for Father's Day._

_Love,_

_Rayn Excal, Celsius Excal, Fahrenheit Excal, Absol_

_PS: Celsius misses you a lot Lithium. She loved you more than a friend and a brother._

I folded the piece of paper then placed it in the Mother's Day card and put both in the envelope. I signed it then passed the card around so my pokémon can leave their paw prints on the back of the card. Celsius handed me a red balloon that was shaped into a heart that had "Happy Mother's Day" written in big light blue font. After tying the string to the envelope I put it face up under a big oak tree that was one of the few standing in the middle of the clearing then stepped backwards surveying the scene. Celsius walked up then placed the bouquet of tulips next to the envelope under the tree looking almost like a memorial or burial site.

That's when Celsius and I stood up straight and put our feet together and saluted like an officer. We were saluting to my father who was a sergeant unit in S.W.A.T. We went at ease then walked back over to the balloon while Fahrenheit and Absol stood back. I took out a knife and cut the balloon string. As the balloon floated out of the clearing I stared at the helium filled heart being carried away by the breeze towards the direction of the coastline.

"Gardevoir, I didn't forget about you…Happy Mother's Day," I inaudibly spoke as I kept my eyes on the balloon, "Lucario, I'll be here next month. Riolu, Ralts…I'm keeping my last promise to you two. I'll be there…"

After a minute of staring I finally let some of my tears flow. The few tears became a flood of anguish as I completely lost my composure and dropped into a kneed position under the tree. I always try not to think about my family but in this setting I just can't help myself.

Celsius wrapped me in a hug and joined me. Fahrenheit came in and hugged Celsius and I close too for support. Absol, not knowing what to do paced up to us. Celsius and I were the ones crying while Fahrenheit was trying to comfort us both. Absol approached us with a sincere look in her eyes this time. Hopefully after a month and a half of being around us she accepted why we share so much in common. She then began speaking with her absol cries pronouncing much of her name which I couldn't understand.

I felt Celsius turn her head from behind my shoulder to face Absol. "Mother's Day, it's a special day once a year where people all around show their mothers great appreciation for being a mother. As you know, our mother is gone which is why we came out here to show our thanks within nature. M-4 and Jewel are doing the exact same thing right now close by." This got her fixed into Celsius as she explained the holiday. "We just want to kill everybody that wronged our childhood," she finished with aggression.

We still had Absol's attention as she responded to Celsius. As she communicated she draped her head down looking shamed, or saddened while speaking almost inaudibly. Maybe she wanted to show her appreciation as well.

"It's not too late. And as a pokémon just thanking your mother in your prayers shows enough appreciation."

"If I knew you wanted to contribute I would've given you some flowers to lay down for your mother, I'm sorry," I added to which Absol just nodded saying "sol" which hopefully means "that's okay".

Absol, which is what we all call her, has made a great recovery being with us. As far as I know, she's friendly towards us, no longer growling at us, but she's extremely introverted even when doing the simplest tasks around us like eating, drinking, or relieving herself. Before, she used to be so shy that she couldn't sleep around us as she would wake up each half hour or even pull all nighters from what Celsius has seen which made me feel really bad she was still frightened towards us. I do know that she knows she's not with slavers though. The night she was discharged I fed her the healthiest food we had giving her small meals at a time. At first she was timid but upon the first nibble she immediately consumed all the contents very rapidly. I guess that must've been her first good meal in a long, long time. She might not even remember the last time she had a good meal before that one. Even though she liked the food however she was still shy when I fed her, seeming to make sure I was okay with it to which I felt awful for because after I said "it's okay" or "go ahead" she ate very quickly barely even slowing down to savor the tastes of the expensive food we're given. That went on for about a month, and now she's made a complete recovery as she's built a lean, healthy layer of fat and muscle over her frame. Comparing her to when I first found her she looks just like a young, normal absol; clean and slender.

As my pokémon and I embraced I looked up to see Jewel approaching us. "Sorry, did I interrupt?" she spoke telepathically.

"No, no, you came perfectly. Thank you for coming to translate for me," I answered wiping my tears away and getting up.

"No problem," she replied as the psychic intensity increased in my mind again, "The link is open."

"Translate…" I heard Absol speak this time with less pain and more clarity in her calm tone, "You mean translate me?"

"Yes," I answered as my pokémon stood next to me in front of her. All of us towering over her must've intimidated her because she took a small hesitated step back. "I brought you out here not only so you can witness the love we give to our lost family, but also so that I can give you an offer." As I said that her confused expression cancelled and soon she sat in place listening to us. I knelt down in front of her and rubbed along her neck and scalp, but as I did that I saw her eyes trail over to the long scar that I received from her. As soon as she saw that she backed away from me with her head down.

"I'm sorry I hurt you badly that day," she apologized lowly, "I shouldn't be given this kind of treatment."

"You only did it in defense. I understand and it's alright-"

"No, I expected to get punished but… just as you, Celsius, Fahrenheit, and even Jewel kept urging me after I had cut you, you did put me in a great place, fed me, sheltered me. How could I ever forgive myself for being such a burden to you all? Sometimes I think that I'm really dead and just resting in paradise, but I still live with this guilt… and fear. I thought you were all slavers, and for that I deeply apologize," she explained a little shakily as that must've taken a lot out of her to apologize to all of us, except she shouldn't be apologizing.

"This is reality Absol, remember that. You are safe from slavers, and you don't have to apologize for it. You shouldn't be scared anymore. I decided to bring you hear and help you get better-"

"But why?" she pleaded even appearing to tear up around her eyes.

"Because, I couldn't leave you to die," I told her forcefully, "I'm not an average person. Whenever I see a pokémon hurt I just have to help it. Plus I love absol in general. They're my favorite pokémon. I wish what the slavers did to you never happened because it should never happen to anyone. Now that I learned that slavers are real it really sickens me to hear about their slaughters, and I hate people who kill innocent lives."

"I have the same except opinion, they don't deserve to live…that's why I trust you all because you only live to avenge your family," she continued.

"But…now that you're healthy…I'm offering you freedom back into the wild." Once I said that her eyes perked up as she sat down listening intently. "If you stay with us, there's a good chance you will die because of what we do, and I don't want you to die because of me."

Absol just sat there for a few seconds before nodding and turning away from us. That's when I took out her pokéball ready to smash the sphere upon seeing her walk away. "I knew I was such a burden to you all," she spoke lowly.

"You're not a burden; I don't want you to die just because of my causes! You don't deserve that. If you stay you have to learn how to fight."

"But, since I was brought in I have witnessed what you all train for. I have seen Celsius and Fahrenheit fight and follow commands. I have seen you lead and attack. I have seen all of you get strong and defend each other. I want to help, and learn how to fight and defend."

Her last statement caught me and even my pokémon way off guard. Did she just say she wants to stay? "If you stay, you would have to do what we do. I would have to train you vigorously so you could participate in dangerous assignments just like the rest of us. You would have to kill others, and you might die with us in the end though!"

"I know the risks, and I'm willing to take them. I want to get stronger," she told confidently intently keeping her eyes focused on me and no where else.

"We want to kill these people that we live with right now. That's why we're here. You would have to risk your life for me…"

"I'm willing to stay with you; I'm willing to risk my life to end these bad people."

Her answers kept making me smile as she was basically giving herself to my team. "Then do you accept becoming my loyal pokémon. Loyalty to me means respect, trust, and friendship in my words. Being loyal is devoting your life to me as I do the same for you. The problem is wherever I go shit happens, but I promise I will devote myself to trying to find a way to live happily after we avenge our family. As you train with us I will still feed you, shelter you, take great care of you, and teach you how to become a leader. Do you thrive to help avenge what we've lost because you never lost anything because of them?"

"I…I do. I want to become a leader, I thrive to kill those that don't deserve to live, and I want to lead a great cause!" she declared with great energy making me smile proudly that I now have an absol on my team.

"Excellent answer!" I beamed becoming very happy at that moment to know that an absol was joining me. I walked over to pet her and she accepted pitching her head so I can get her various spots as my pokémon got by me appearing to approve the situation as well with smiles. "You're going to need a name. I don't want to just call you 'Absol' all the time." I actually couldn't believe this was happening! An absol was joining my team! I pondered for a minute trying to decide what to name her. "I want you to forget your old identity okay. How about… Crecstine; pronounced like the name Kristine. Your horn and tail is like the crescent moon with black and blue arcanine striped patterns which I have never heard of before. Plus now that you're healthy you already look gorgeous so you deserve a great name."

"Gorgeous?" she paused, even blushing a little past her blue face from probably never receiving a complement before, "Thank you, I accept the name," she responded still looking serious.

"Welcome to the team Crecstine. Once we get inside I will tell you everything about the codes and rules of this house and how you're going to be trained. You're going to learn a lot here so be prepared." She nodded as we all formed back around the bouquet.

The first non fire type pokémon of my team! The only negative thing is that she could die here which I'm going to be constantly worried about. However, now another big step in planning the massacre is to find a way to not get caught so we can all live on without consequences. It will take some time for her to truly open up for I don't know a lot about her yet, but until then she will get the treatment we all get here.

"So your mother and father were very successful for your kind?" she asked as we approached the oak tree.

"Yes, I still remember the time that we all lived together, before this all happened, before I came here…" I spoke.

"I see, but at least you remember what your father looked like…"

That night I tossed and turned in my bed. There're so many thoughts swimming in my head that I couldn't sleep. My family, how many people I have killed, if Arceus will let me see my parents again, or how will I live if people figured out I killed so many people, their reactions- Fuck! I threw the covers off and walked to my weapons locker. I opened the thick titanium door and surveyed the many tools inside. The only source of light was the beams from the moon shining through my open curtains illuminating the floor shading my back walls a light hint of blue. I took out an M82 cartridge and looked into the slit where the 50. BMG rounds were. I popped one out rolling the round around my palm lost in thought. This bullet in my hand can blow a body in half leaving a red cloud of mist to cover the evidence for a few seconds; I've seen it happen countless times. I wonder how much pain those targets went through and if they really deserved it. How alarming is it to have your whole body ripped in half without any warning? How much pain did those people feel when they died that way?

Wait…This thought scares me. Why the hell am I even thinking this! I grasped the bullet hard in my hand then chucked it at the ground in frustration listening to it loudly bounce of the hard wood floors. Damn it, I have never ever let any of these thoughts bother me before, so why now? Why has this trauma begun to seep out of my head? It's been going on for weeks and it's pissing me off which is why I'm losing sleep. Do my pokémon always feel this way?

That's when I had a sudden realization that if I just acquired an absol, basically my most wanted pokémon, and I promised her that I'll find a way to live and become a trainer then… As soon as that came to my head I immediately ran to my garbage bin near my computer and thankfully found the crumpled up piece of paper that I didn't empty out yet; thank goodness. I actually took it out and checked the name "absol". Crecstine, I'll make sure that you grow happy here. As I kept flattening the piece of paper down as best as I could I actually thought of the future pass the ending of this family. If M-4 and I do succeed in our plans we may walk away free! If I do become a trainer then the list will simply work like this. If I see a pokémon but don't catch it I'll highlight the name green. If I catch it I checkmark it. If I see a pre evolved form of any of these pokémon but don't catch it then it'll be highlighted orange. If I catch the unevolved form then I'll still put a checkmark. However, this is all still a fantasy to me. I folded up the paper and stored it in my wardrobe next to my lucky Gardevoir cloth. Both of those items will remind me that I have a journey after this mess.

I walked towards my pokémon's room of the suite. There I saw Crecstine on the foot of Celsius' bed sleeping soundly. I guess she's realized that this is the best home she's ever had; good. I looked at Fahrenheit's bed being next to Celsius' which is also a king size bed since after his evolution. He wasn't there- what the hell?

**(POV)**

"Damn it, where's the beef and rice flavored poké-chow at?"

"Hey… Fahrenheit can we talk?"

I jolted and almost fell off the shelves of the pantry from hearing Jewel's voice. I jumped down onto the marble flooring of the giant, still active kitchen and walked over to her smiling happily. "M-4 finally let you out? Yes! I missed you so-"

"Actually, he let me out because… I'm not in heat anymore…" she spoke hesitatively.

"Y-you're not?"

"No, it passed yesterday. And…please, is it okay that we put all of last month behind us?" she friendly requested walking up to me.

"Wait, are you asking me to just forget that whole thing between us never happened?" I pressed on just praying that this was just some kind of joke she was pulling. Oh please don't say what I'm afraid you're going to say.

"Please, I know it's hard but try not to make this any harder. It was like some kind of force took over my whole body which is not like me. Instincts drove me to make stupid decisions. I would never give my body away like that to anyone. It's just I want to stay friends and if you still like me then can we start out as close friends, please?"

I was frozen in place by her speech. I was so close that time to mating her and now that opportunity was just blocked off from me? No mating, no sex, no yiffing, it's just back to jacking and sucking off as a virgin that was so close? No… no, no, no this can't be true! Why did I just get teased like that! Clenching my fists in complete disappointment all I could think of doing was just facing the ceiling, falling to my knees, and roaring out my vocal chords, "NOOOOO!"

**(POV)**

Fully dressed like an assassin, Fahrenheit and I were waiting on the roof top of the mansion for my ride to pick us up for our next assignment. I grasped my temples with my finger tips sighing on the ledge in total frustration. I really never saw this day coming. Every second I wait for this transport I get more pissed off. I don't have a choice; I have to suck it up. I just have to say "fuck it" and complete this assignment.

"So, what's the briefing on the assignment? Is it so bad that you can't tell me?" Fahrenheit began as he sat next to me probably feeling really uncomfortable with the energy of my anger.

"We have to work for Team rocket for about a week," I blankly told, "It's an aid escort, a very important one. We're going to rendezvous with a Team Rocket sea convoy off the southern tip of Ever Grade Island where we will support the convoy delivering a very 'rare' package to a secret lab hidden in the middle of the ocean south of the Kanto Region. This task is long, mainly the trip, but we have to deliver it and watch it for a day. No, details on what the actual package is though, but it's probably just another artifact that a bunch of smugglers and even federal officers want. And failure cannot be tolerated…"

"What are you gonna do? You hate Team Rocket. Shit, even I hate them from what you've told me about them. Maybe Celsius and I could switch positions and I'll just watch over Crecstine," he laughed knowing he meant that as a joke which sort of caused me to snicker.

"There's nothing I can do about it," I shrugged, "I just want this to be done with and leave T.R. forever."

"M-14, where you at!" I heard M-4 call out appearing out of the door leading to the third floor of the mansion.

"The hell do you want now?" I snapped with irritation because I have this assignment because of him.

"Okay, you're pissed so I just wanted to say my bad… and if this is a Team Rocket assignment then I think you should take her," He responded innocently before showing me his pokéball.

"Wait a minute. You're letting me borrow Jewel for this task!" I exclaimed.

"Just this fucking once! I heard a lot of restraining is needed to keep Pokémon in check so she can use her psychic on them without hurting the shit out of them." He then handed me the pokeball.

I took it in hand scanning the orb almost lost in thought. M-4 even told me before he would never let anyone use his pokémon. "Thank you… I'll bring her back unharmed."

"You fucking better. If I find one scratch on her then you're fucked," he told me. "And for you," he pointed to Fahrenheit, "Holy shit if I find crusted white shit on her fur then your fucked," he told Fahrenheit.

"Eat a dick, M-4," Fahrenheit responded coldly.

"What'd he say?" M-4 demanded.

"He said 'eat a dick.'" I casually responded.

"Ooh, yeah you're funny M-14, but you fucking better keep Jewel safe," he responded sarcastically not believing I was saying the truth, "Like I said sorry, I couldn't do this one."

"Look thank you, but I have everything under control here." After I said that I began hearing beatings in the air that slowly grew louder. A black aircraft similar to a V-22 Osprey but smaller appeared in the distance where upon hovering over the mansion the prop engines pitched up thrusting the aircraft in a slow decent to the pad. The twin prop engine aircraft was painted in jet black with the red "R" over the cabin door. It has the design of giant pivoting prop engines on the ends of both wings to switch from hover mode to flight mode with two smaller prop engines on the back built at the ends of the elevator wings. The wings still stay parallel to the ground without shifting as the engines were facing up unlike the V-22 which has its wings move with the engines.

"What the fuck, someone got an RPG I can use?" M-4 asked rhetorically. The cabin door split open with stairs folding down to the concrete. "Heh, bet you and I can fly one of those by now, but anyways good luck," M-4 commented before leaving us to go back in the mansion. I got up with a very annoyed look on my face. I looked at Fahrenheit who had the same expression.

"Well at least we have Jewel by our side, she can keep you company," I told with a small smile.

"Yeah…" Fahrenheit sighed.

I released Jewel out of her ball. After she had formed she began with, "I'm here to assist you Rayn."

"Thank you, and please don't call me that, what if they hear our telepathic conversations?" I responded as a grunt came out of the VTOL.

He was wearing all black. Black pants, black long sleeve shirt, black baret, and black utility boots. His expression was stern and sharp. He walked up to me and scanned my body. "Is this it? Where's the rest of you?"

"Are you saying I'm small because I can throw you off the roof top right now," I responded with intimidation.

He was without a doubt intimidated and surprised by my response. I may be young but I can be daunting. "N-no… where's the other assassin?"

"Other assassin?" I questioned looking around, "I thought it was just me-"

"Right here, grunt!" I heard a familiar voice call out. Oh no… I turned around to confirm if it was the dark, feminine voice of the assassin I just heard.

"Wait a second. I thought it was just me, not MP-5 too! It never mentioned that in the briefing," I flared at the grunt.

"What you scared, little brat?" the assassin responded with authority looking down at me as she got next to me. I grunted at her remark.

I have to admit. After working with this assassin a few times she's a bit scary. Her name in this house is MP-5 since her primary weapons are two HK MP-5A3's set on the sides of her waist and a Streyr AUG A3 assault rifle strapped on her back diagonally. She doesn't have any one handed weapons since she dual wields her MP-5's, but she has three pokémon being an ariados, a skorupi, and a shelgon. However, rumors have it that she custom builds her own weapons in her suite since the Don granted her education in engineering in the combat and mechanics field and gave her access to many workshops and materials available around the mansion. Hell even some strange talk has it that she invented some kind of device that can turn matter invisible. I don't find that crap true. I mean how in the hell can anyone perfect turning shit invisible. She is crazy with technology and is ranked as the best electronic advisor of the assassins and like the others takes great pride in being an assassin.

Her real name is Amanda Jay. She's the oldest at nineteen years and second most experienced in the house, brought in Mafia 14 at twelve years old shortly after M-60 was brought in. From what I've seen her intimidation does back up her skills in assassinations. She features sharp blue eyes that even creeps me out when she looks at me with a constant smirk at her lips, sleek silver colored hair running down to her mid back, all purple trench coat wrapped tightly by a purple belt around her waist, and a tight maroon one piece suit that takes the shape of her entire body covering up to her hands with gloves at the ends with the foot area tailored to have high heels built in which she designed herself that has the armor we all wear within the fabric and is designed to adapt to the surrounding temperatures.

"Both of you listen up!" someone shouted from inside the aircraft. A much bulkier looking man came out of the cabin with a long black draping trench coat; he's definitely the admin of this assignment. "I'm assuming you both read the briefing. Yes, you will be escorting a dangerous package into our facility but don't ask any questions about it. You each will meet up with M-60 at Ever Grande Island, board the boat with the package, and stay on sentry duty around the deck. I do warn you though, we're not expecting any attacks, but we wouldn't have called you out for assistance if there wasn't a threat. No, the real threat is within the package. If anything jumps out from the three inch steel armored box I want you to try and immobilize it before it causes destruction. Don't kill it for Arceus' sake. Now if you got that then in the plane!"

"Yes sir!" we both exclaimed at the same time even though I kept mentally regretting it now knowing they captured a pokémon.

MP-5 walked in to the cabin of the aircraft. I was about to walk in before the admin stopped me with his palm. "Whoa, you don't know the rules? There are no pokémon allowed out in the ship. That's like carrying a live grenade in here. Withdrawal your fucking weapons!"

I gave him a stern glare with all my anger. I was about to lash out at the Admin and cut his tongue out. I looked at Fahrenheit who was equally pissed then at Jewel who seemed a little hurt with a mixture of anger, but I pulled out their pokeballs from my belt. "Return…" I spoke blankly. After they were sucked into the orbs I gave the admin another stern glare before walking in the cabin, taking my weapons off putting them next to my seat, and taking a seat opposite of MP-5 as instructed which I felt very uncomfortable doing from having to face her the whole flight. MP-5 and I have had some bad history. When we were both assigned to assassinate a diamond dealer, she had left me behind when the cops showed up. Luckily Command gave me an underground escape route through the sewers but it was still dangerous. Also, MP-5 hates pokémon only pretending to respect them but she only views them as disposable tools; well very expensive ones at least. She nearly left her pokémon out in the heat of a gun battle and didn't care until she got to a safe area.

I lied back in my chair as the engines whirred to full power where I just rested back trying anything to speed up the assignment.

Standing on deck of my objective it's been four days since we left on the escort out of six scheduled days. The sun had descended completely behind the horizon leaving a dark tint of blue fading throughout the sky with gold and faint orange crimson spreading through the horizon that charted the outlines of distant clouds. I was fatigued from being tired and pretty much bored walking around the boat every minute looking behind shadows since only a few hanging light fixtures illuminated the deck. The tiredness made me feel so dizzy I would even stumble over every once and a while from the boat rocking in the water. I reached for the sky to stretch out. I felt my spine, knees, and shoulders crack in different places giving me huge relief, and then continued on my patrol.

Of the large convoy of eight vessels being speed boats and other cargo boats, we assassins and several grunts were stationed on the one with the package. It was an odd looking ship over 150 feet long with a weird external design. It had no curves to it at all. Instead it had the solid wall designs similar to the F-117 Night Staraptor. It must be a stealth boat since a hull without any curves can deflect radar waves, which is why there are no external threats.

"Yo, M-14," M-60 called out from behind me, "Looks like it's time to change shifts, my turn now, lucky for you."

"Heh, about damn time, I'm starting to get sea sick from this shit," I responded as we exchanged casual handshakes.

When I first rendezvoused with him the first thing I noticed was that he grew bulkier, not that he wasn't bulky before since he has to carry all of his weapons' weight, and he was slightly tanner from his original skin tone, not as much as M-4 and I though. However, what made him really different was that underneath his weapons he wore a long black and red trench coat just like the admins with the red "R" insignia on the left breast. Everything he wore was completely black. The only thing that contrasted the dark on him was his short golden blonde hair, still expressive blue eyes, and jokey smile.

After we shook hands and exchanged positions on deck I saw that MP-5 was actually out on the deck when she's supposed to be resting while I was on patrol duty.

"The hell is she doing out here?" I asked with irritation.

"Who-oh holy shit! Is that MP-5, about damn time she came out of her cabin, it's like she's been hiding from me all assignment long. Damn, she's grown more into a woman lately!" he beamed.

"Well shit, I don't see why not. You've never changed M-60."

"Damn, right! Be right back." As I leaned back against the guard rail of the state-of-the-art ship I saw M-60 was communicating with her appearing to be flirting as he looked up her very feminine form. At first I saw MP-5 giggle in response which had me smiling for him but then she quickly brought her palm up and smacked it across his cheek which made me smile wider and chuckle which was when they walked away from each other. "I get that from her a lot. It is possible to date a girl that older than me, I'm tellin' you."

"Right…you've never change dude," I smiled as I looked at the large red handprint on his cheek, "So, why haven't we been informed about what's in that big ass box behind you," I pointed out to the thing we're supposed to be guarding that was wrapped tightly in a mess of thick chains. It was a thick, metal riveted box taller than M-60.

"Because they don't want you or MP-5 to call up the Don and report what's in there or he'll be pissed. He thinks we're just delivering weapons when it's actually a pokémon. Something about a rare find, but they say shit like that all the time," he answered casually.

"Okay… do you know what kind of pokémon it is, because it looks very big and dangerous if it's locked up in that box? Can it even breathe?"

"Well yeah I know what it is. I was the one that tracked it. It was my mission, it wasn't dangerous just a pain in the ass to find instead, but if I told you what it was you'd be pissed off too, shit…" he chuckled

"So that's it, you're not going to tell me?" I questioned getting really aggravated.

"You're gonna find out anyways, Dialga. And when you do, you mustn't tell the Don."

"Arceus damn it, now I really want to bust that cage open. I can't believe they had you capture pokémon and torture them, fuck!"

"See, I knew you'd get pissed," he smiled.

I walked away irritated and tired from my long patrol wanting to get to my cabin, but due to my heavy fatigue I lost balance and stumbled over to the railing on the opposite side of the ship due to the kick from the rocking boat. Feeling very disoriented I gripped the railing as I gazed at the sea directly below. I never have gotten sea sick before but before I knew it I began to sweat profusely feeling nervous and dizzy. Gripping the railing hard I gazed down the ship listening to the sea rippling against the boat. However, as I looked down I saw a bulge sticking out of the water next to the ship. Looking closer the identity of the object made me jolt back as I saw lifeless limbs and fingers attached to the floating mass as it rocked with the current only exposing the back, head, and arms of the dead body. I quickly pressed into my earpiece about ready to raise our awareness level but as I looked towards the escorting patrol boats I saw more distinct lumps floating along the waters. Seeing they had the same characteristics as the body here I saw there were terrifyingly countless bodies floating out there where I felt my movements fall limp in complete shock. As I blinked trying to clear myself I eerily noticed that the natural hues changed around the atmosphere instead of being blue or black in the dark, the boat turned dark red, with the sea a crimson color looking exactly like blood with a gigantic reflection of the moon in it that was colored orange! The source of this light came from a full red harvest moon hanging above us that highlighted the teeming dead population in the water as bodies kept floating past the boat. Getting really startled and shaky from this image I began backing up slowly lost in disbelief.

"Dude, I thought you were gonna get some shut eye? You okay?" I swiftly turned around to see M-60 and everything around me appear back to normal. Seeing everything change back so quickly, I looked back out towards the ocean to see nothing but a couple escort boats a little ways away.

"Yeah-yeah…I am. I've…just been having these weird ass thoughts and visions lately for the past couple weeks about…death. I'm getting worried man," I told nervously even criticizing myself mentally for panting under my breath from that shocking hallucination I just had.

"I think I know what you're talking about man," he responded placing a hand on my shoulder as we leaned against the railing, "I used to feel sick too when completing several assignments for the Don, but don't worry. Once I get back, we'll take care of him."

"Good…We may get revenge, but our souls are fucked…for all eternity. Shit, I think I might have Post Traumatic Stress. I've been seeing…fucking dead bodies! It's like some dumb ass horror movie playing before me in real life M-60!" I cried almost in fear.

"Patrol Eight, to Big Grey," I heard from my earpiece, "I'm picking up strange movements in the current two 'o clock of your heading three hundred meters away."

Getting back into serious focus M-60 and I ran over to the front of the boat and looked out towards the right with a couple more grunts joining us. All I saw was open ocean with ripples drawn out through the deep blue; unlike my dream... "Mike-One-Four to Patrol Eight, negative, I don't have a visual on-"

Suddenly I got violently kicked off my feet as the boat jerked to the side by what felt like something colliding into us loudly. As I was getting up the boat was hit again this time from the opposite side. Water was rushing onto the deck as I grabbed a rail to carry myself back up before another object hit the ship before another collided into the opposite side! I got knocked down again sliding down side to side on the deck where I was unable to recover my footing for several seconds hearing others scream as water kept rushing on to the deck. I didn't know where I was ending up as I was being thrown around seeing the deck and other people quickly speed past me before I suddenly felt nothing below half my body. I instantly felt my body being taken by gravity where I instinctively tried to maneuver my arms for the nearest ledge or rail to catch myself. I found I slid under a bar of railing gripping it tightly before I narrowly fell into the water. The collisions were causing this boat to capsize as I looked up the deck to see it almost leveled with the moon! I frantically held onto the rail fully drenched until finally the boat tipped back to normal painfully throwing my body against the side of the ship. I tried to throw my arm up but the sea water was causing me to slip until I felt someone grasp my wrist and yank me up. M-60 was standing in front of me where MP-5 surveyed the deck nearby.

"Something just hit the boat! Spread out and find out what it was," I ordered still regaining my composure.

"Thanks for pointing out the obvious," MP-5 responded agitatedly.

We all began fanning out with LED flashlights. I was walking around the side of the ship next to the bridge when something hit the vessel again. Water doused the whole deck as it tipped far to the side but this time I grabbed the railing keeping my feet planted. I immediately pointed my light towards the source of the hit where it shined on a gigantic, moving, glistening figure. All I saw was a blue, wet object passing along the boat's side.

"I'm picking up multiple large signatures under the deck!" the captain warned through our earpieces.

I quickly pointed the light around the figure and saw the last of it past by with a giant fin raising out of the water before bringing the flap down with enough energy to kick up a giant wave over the boat. I froze in place as I saw the water tower over me and the whole boat. The tsunami came down on all of us where I felt the heavy, tormenting impact of hundreds of pounds of water consume me where the frigid sea water washed me around the deck. I was unable to identify where I was from getting disoriented and swallowing up sea water until I painfully collided into the cage we were guarding. The water washed out as I chocked out water profusely being surprised by that kind of force nearly killing us.

"We got men over board!" a grunt called out.

"They were wailord, and they're trying to tip this vessel over!" I informed loudly instantly taking out Jewel's pokéball and calling her out.

Jewel and I ran over to the other side of the deck to find MP-5 using her ariados to shoot Silk String at a wailmer in the eyes causing it to fall off the deck stunned. Everyone present on the deck began using their pokémon to stop the water pokémon from attacking us further. Only Jewel and I pretended to do anything though. Out in the distance I saw a wailord torpedo out of the water above one of the small patrol boats falling back down and crushing everyone on it. When the wailord fell back in the water the boat exploded loudly in a flash of magnificent beaming yellow and orange catching everyone's attention. I had to admit I was pretty happy that these pokémon were fighting Team Rocket. I looked back at the deck and saw an even more appalling sight. Tentacles began flying out of the water and grabbing grunts yanking them above the deck and into the water.

"Everyone get down, now!" M-60 ordered.

A pair of tentacles had grabbed a grunt before he complied pulling him up mid air before stretching his arms and legs out to full span. He let loose an agonizing blood curdling scream until his limbs gave way seconds later littering the whole deck in a giant mess of gore and glistening cakes of jagged flesh. I had to shield my eyes from the eruption of blood projecting out of the grunt's limb stumps. The tentacle released the grunt for his half dead body to splatter more loose hanging entrails that were dangling from what remained of bone and muscle on the deck.

"They just gave us a warning, and that's the example for all of us!" Jewel yelled.

"Shit, these mother fuckers are using lethal Force!" M-60 warned all of the patrol men.

Fuck, countering with our weapons is not going to solve anything; these damn stubborn fucks! I unexpectedly felt something wrap around my torso and pull me up with great speed startling me so bad I yelled out horrifically. Then I felt another tentacle pull my legs trying to yank them off my body! I tried to retract them but the pain was too intense I screamed out my lungs from the fear of getting ripped in half. Damn it, Team Rocket, get me out of this hell zone!

I was temporarily blinded by small explosions erupting below me. It happened so fast that I quickly felt air rushing past me and before I knew it I was back on the deck safe and a little shaken by the rough landing with my ears still ringing. I looked up to see giant glowing red orbs and tentacle silhouettes with the moon further highlighting the outline of a heavily wounded tentacruel. The sight made me sick to my stomach as I saw glistening pieces of its exoskeleton fall into the water then one of its tentacles that was barely dangling tear off before falling into the water causing the tentacruel to let out an ear-splitting shriek. Even though it was so dark I could still picture the Pokémon in agonizing pain.

"Dialga fuck, you okay?" I got up and saw M-60 holding his M32 MGL with smoke still streaming out of the large barrel.

"Shit," I yelled getting back to my feet, "I never knew tentacruel got that fucking big, they're pissed off at all of us!"

"Then we kill it with fire, mother fucker!" he smiled with pride as he released the rotating drum of his launcher where two metallic objects fell out for him to replace the chambers with new grenade rounds as another explosion rocked the battle directly behind him. As he ran to assist others I quickly called out Fahrenheit since we could use his Swift Attacks as all other grunts began shooting for their lives.

**(POV)**

"Fahrenheit, get with Jewel and watch my back. It's up to you guys!"

"Yes sir!" I declared getting next to Jewel on all fours ready to participate in combat as I saw and heard grunts all around shooting at tentacles with only their attached flashlights and muzzle flashes illuminating the deck before I fired up my neck which provided a lot of light.

"Hey…Fahrenheit!" she grunted loudly through the gunshots as she launched a Psychic attack on two tentacles approaching us holding them then throwing them back into the ocean.

"Hey, good night for a battle eh," I joked about the moment shooting Swift at a tentacle creeping near my foot as a couple grunts ran past us.

"Yes it is!" she laughed seeing her launch a couple more attacks as we stood on fours back to back.

"So… what'd you think of- shit, got your back!" I called shooting a tentacle approaching her with my stars seeing them embed into the flesh as it slithered away heavily wounded.

"Nice save, Fahrenheit, this is exhilarating!" she chuckled as we switched sides where I shot stars at tentacles wrapping around a scared grunt's legs.

"So remember that time we were in the bathroom and we almost mated?" I asked forcefully from defending another grunt from more limbs slithering up the deck as bullets kept raiding the field ricocheting off the metal, "I never felt so close to any other female before, hehe! I'm sure you feel the same way about me," I smiled scooting back closer to her even grinding my hind leg against hers in a jokey but sexual way.

"Some timing you have Fahrenheit, but I recall that point! It did feel good, when I was in the mood!" she joked launching a tentacle back out at sea before feeling her run forward sort of disappointing me that she's turning my advancements down.

"I know its bad timing but it's just love on the battlefield! Didn't you love the way I gripped you so closely! Wouldn't it be exciting to be mated by a much bigger pokémon with gentle, big paws?" Dark appendages kept advancing towards us as I talked but I shot each with razor stars.

"I'm sure you would love that Fahrenheit! Damn, above- jump!"

I turned and saw a tentacle sweep above the wet deck causing her to prone and myself to get on all fours and spring up seeing that appendage trip two other grunts. "Good call, but really if we tried another go at it I think you would really enjoy it!" I grunted from dodging another tentacle, "I would try to describe it to you hotly but it's pretty difficult right now! Besides did anyone ever tell you how majestic you are in combat?"

"I already told you," she yelled shooting another Psychic seeing her panting in fatigue as she suddenly lost her footing, "I want to start over with you. Can't you just accept that? Damn, I'm running low on power!"

"On my way!" I heard Master call out from the other side of the deck as I saw him run in with a Max Ether bottle.

"I know starting over sounds great, but what we had before was amazing until M-4 fucked it up!" I told as I was guarding Rayn behind me while he sprayed her body which would "reload" her powers.

"What we had before was out of impulse!" she screamed as she launched a huge blue wave of Psychic energy towards the whole side of the deck seeing several tentacle fling back into the water splashing the whole boat with water. "Please, don't make this harder than it already is Fahrenheit," she spoke being much quieter this time as the whole scene around us grew silent after her blast where I only nodded though deep down felt defeated.

**(POV)**

It became silent as the rest of the tentacles that weren't hit were retreating. However several other tentacles grabbed onto the boats railings rocking it violently before a few more tried to pull the cage through the thick chains that held it down to the deck. That's when a long series of quick explosions illuminated the whole scene in vibrant gold from the muzzle flashes of the G36K's as every bullet impacted the thick tentacles. After hearing flesh getting torn up I saw the tentacles retreat back into the water each looking mangled up and shooting out its blood in multiple directions drenching everyone in it. We all quickly fanned out towards the sides of the ship where we all waited for minutes until all signatures disappeared.

"It looked like they were trying to get that cage. Idiotic creatures, don't they know that we overpower them by firepower and numbers?" MP-5 commented as we relaxed a little, but her fact scared me. That means whatever is in that cage is really pissing off a lot of pokémon. Maybe whatever was inside was trying to call for help. Shit, I think this is one very important pokémon. It must be a mythical legend but which kind that size?

"Be on full guard the rest of the night. If anyone spots anything unusual in the water fire a warning shot and report," M-60 ordered the whole crew in the escort.

"And somebody better clean the damn mess off my boat!" the captain yelled through our ear pieces irritably as we all looked at the giant mess of blood and flesh found plastered through out the whole ship.

Days later, the moment finally came as the boat pulled into a giant cave dock built into the side of a cliff in a distant island far from any mainland. As we docked I secretly pulled out a device that had been concealed in my coat this whole escort. It was an optical wire with various mikes all over to capture each sound around me, so I'm going in undercover wearing a wire. I connected the cable to my ENA from under my sleeve and clipped the camera to the edge of one of the side pockets of my coat. I switched the ENA Monitor to the plug-in. It showed a clear picture through the monitor on my wrist for wherever I turned the screen faced that direction.

"Audio check, affirmative?" I spoke. The screen read back "Sound Feedback On. Optical Wiring Check Complete". I pressed the recording button. "This recording is going to prove that Team Rocket is a truly neglectful force through out the world. I and many grunts have just docked in a cave on a laboratory island called New Island located in possibly uncharted territory far from Kanto. I've received an objective to wait on standby for the cage we've been escorting to be transported to the appropriate lab center for…whatever purpose this assignment was for," I explained turning towards the cage that was getting unhooked by the crewman then turning towards the whole dock seeing more busy activity and other vehicles, "M-14 out." I then switched the mode on my monitor screen back so no one sees what I'm doing since the ENA was strapped to my left forearm in plain sight.

A crane on the docking platform was latched secured to the metal cage. The metal box was now swiveling over a large flatbed on a black truck where we assassins and several grunts went to go stand around with weapons drawn out on stand by. Once the cage was set on the bed we all got in other trucks then followed the lead truck out the hangar.

Outside the hangar was flourishing vegetation of unique kinds that I've never seen before where I saw some were kept in small greenhouses. Several large structures were found through out the path as the driver followed the cage. After ten minutes of driving the convoy finally pulled up and stopped in front of the largest building we've past so far, probably the main facility on the island. A crane was found on top of the building where it went over the flat bed with the cage as everyone was ordered to go in the building. Entering we walked through several long corridors where each hall was made completely of industrial riveted material full of other doors to the sides and large numbers labeling rooms and sections. Walking a couple stairs down we entered an underground level of a giant dome room cluttered with lab equipment and machines very unfamiliar to me. The cage was already placed on a high platform in the center of the room. Along the walls of the dome were grunts covering up the walkways that were overhanging the lab. A circular room with windows was built into the ceiling above the center of the lab overlooking all activity as the observation center where I saw a few dark silhouettes moving around through the window pane.

"Be on alert! We have waited so long for this day to come. The Boss' legacy is finally going to come true today as the greatest event in Team Rocket history. After this extraction our organization will be invincible," the speakers boomed as a great voice announced into a microphone from the hanging observatory, "Ready weapons!"

All around me I heard countless echoing clicks from operating rods sliding back readying G36K's that were aimed at the cage. I took out my M14 rifle only appearing ready to defend ourselves.

All of the florescent lights dimmed away only to be replaced by sirens around the room howling with strobe lights projecting tinted yellow around the whole lab giving this operation a strange setting as everyone around me was focused on the cage before us. As the sirens rang multiple grey robotic arms began emerging from the ground around the platform of the cage. Each free swiveling arm had a different tool attached to the ends for disassembling the cage. Suddenly the whirring of drills came to life to take out the giant screws and rivets along the cage lining. What looked like giant suction cups attached themselves to the sides of the cage lifting them apart for everyone to get a glimpse of what was inside. That's when the sirens stopped but the strobe lights kept on going which was our only flashing light source.

"You see men? This is what we have been searching for! This is what will make us invincible!" The speakers sounded.

What I saw began to rapidly explain everything! The image before me was so amazing I even nearly lost grip of my rifle. M-60, who was next to me, actually snickered a bit. I wouldn't be surprised that he would find this funny. After all he doesn't know anything about pokémon so he probably doesn't know why Mew is such a special pokémon and why it had amazed everyone here exponentially. It also slowly angered me greatly.

This is God to so many people, and Team Rocket is going to exploit it! It's already bad enough that they seem to have it sedated as it was unconscious in what appeared to be a transparent sphere resting on a stand. I actually began lowering my weapons as I saw Mew wasn't a threat at all.

"I can't believe it…Mew is actually real!" I spoke silently letting my arms fall.

"The fuck you doin'? Don't lower your guard in this kind of situation, not now!" M-60 told me.

"Why the hell should I even consider aiming at this pokémon!" I retorted quietly, "It's not even a threat. I can never forgive myself if I point a gun at Mew, especially if it's a religious symbol that was long believed to be hidden away in hiding. Dude, if Mew exists…Arceus must exist too! This…this might change everything about what I truly believe!"

"Hah, never knew you were mewish. Just keep it in church…away from me," he joked.

Ignoring his jeers and trying to avoid getting in trouble with the officials around here I raised my rifle back up only aiming at the wall behind Mew. Everyone still had their weapons armed and waiting to fire.

The small, stubby, pink pokémon didn't look like it was in any pain. As a matter of fact it looked perfectly nonbelligerent and innocent as it lay curled in a ball sleeping like it had no worries in the clear spherical cell; hell Mew would've appeared cute if it weren't for the guns pointing in the background and the strobe lights. As I stared in awe, another arm with a smooth end began ascending from the ground next to the cage where the end swiveled ending up over the sphere. I kept observing wondering what that mechanical arm was supposed to do. My question was soon answered as I saw a thin piece of metal glimmer in what little light we had. It was a needle extending from the smooth nub of the arm which pierced through the cell and penetrated into the side of Mew. I winced as I kept watching. They can not do this to Mew…. However, Mew didn't seem to move at all as I exerted my anger towards the strong grip I had on my rifle. I then saw scarlet fluid flowing through a clear tube behind the needle and into the mechanical arm for a few moments until it was pulled out retracting back into the arm. Then another tool emerged from the nub which appeared to be small clippers and a small circle that moved to penetrate the sphere and point directly at Mew's eye where it clipped a small piece of hair. Assuming it was an eyelash, the lash dropped on a Petri Dish below the clipping tool then retracted back into the arm before the whole arm itself retracted away.

"DNA extraction complete," a computer automated tone sounded through the speakers.

Another mechanical arm fitted with a four appendage clamp descended from the ceiling directly above Mew's spherical cell. The clamp gripped the ball and then carried it up with Mew still in it back into the ceiling where it disappeared into a hatch in the ceiling.

"Good job men. We finally got what we wanted without any surprises," the voice spoke through the microphone.

I kept gazing up at the ceiling where the arm went into still numb by what these people had just done. So Team Rocket was after Mew's DNA the entire time, but what for? The more important question however is will they now release Mew?

Everyone had been dismissed off, so I waited with the rest of the assassins in front of the lab doors for further orders. After waiting a few minutes the admin emerged from another door finally approaching us.

"Thank you for your support. If that Mew did attack then there would have been many casualties, but we all got lucky."

"So what's gonna happen with that DNA stuff?" M-60 asked.

"Good question Mitchell. With that DNA we can finally begin our long awaited project. You three have participated in the creation of what will be the most powerful pokémon ever known in existence thanks to your services. That has been Team Rocket's goal since this organization was founded long ago. We think that Mew contains the DNA of every pokémon found through out the world. I honestly thought that Mew didn't exist because of that theory. Using the blood we just extracted we can now generate a clone of Mew. Giovanni has always wanted that gift and he wants to control it. And he wants to thank you Mitchell for scouting that pokémon out, so now you're free from helping out this project any further since the staff here will take care of the rest. You'll report back to Giovanni after this assignment is complete."

"That's good to hear, sir, because in all honesty it's a great pain in the ass to have to fly out of the nation and search thick ass jungles just to rely on eyewitnesses to capture that smart fucker. I had to wear thermal goggles most of the time because they told me after I lost that pokémon three times that it can morph into, I don't know, every damn pokémon ever. Dialga, that sucked balls; almost caught malaria," M-60 complained.

"Hehe, I don't blame you, you have every right to be frustrated at Dr. Fuji," the Admin chuckled.

"Now that you have the DNA do you plan on releasing Mew?" I asked as generously as I could.

"Hah, this is the rarest pokémon in existence! No, Mew is too precious to just let go but it's also too precious to just carelessly experiment on. We plan on conducting many experiments on this pokémon with delicate hands. We can uncover many wonders of pokémon. This organization will now be known to the scientific community as the Foundation of Pokémon Knowledge. These fucking scientists better not destroy that Mew too soon or I swear…I was told I could trust you three, so do not inform the Don about this discovery. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir," MP-5 answered to which I copied.

No… they absolutely cannot experiment on Mew! I flinched so hard from his words that the admin even gave me an odd look. I'm on an island right now where pokémon are being dissected alive at this very moment! I know that Team Rocket don't care about how cruel their experiments are. I will not let this happen. Mew doesn't deserve that pain. No pokémon in the world deserves that pain!

"Beyond this door is gonna be a bitch so you know, watch out," M-60 warned.

We were in the same building where Mew's DNA was extracted but definitely in a different area. The admin notified us that we have two hours to rest before we continue guarding Mew this time directly with all weapons and pokémon present as they recalibrate a psychokinetic tunnel that will restrain Mew's powers once Mew's placed in it. Right now, his grunts are preparing a room, bed, and more drugs designed to keep Mew down in case it wakes.

M-60 had led me to the second level of this building where we stood in front of a pair of grey steel polished industrial doors. He walked over to a scanner next to the door holding out a card. The doors then suddenly and smoothly slide to the sides revealing what lied behind them as we proceeded.

I walked pass the doors finding myself on a walkway along all sides overlooking a bright room. I leaned against a rail looking out towards the huge room lying below us as I saw other scientists doing the same as me elsewhere except they jotted down notes on clipboards. The room below me was a great eye-opener for me as it got me paralyzed. Below me and beyond were literally hundreds of clear cubed cells ranging far back to the opposite side of this long chamber containing pokémon of all shapes, sizes, and even conditions. It was laid out in a way that it created a grid of narrow walkways where more scientists were found observing what lied inside. I then remembered about the wire I was wearing. I looked at my ENA screen then switched the mode to optical cable while closely hidden close to my chest. It had a perfect view of the activity as it had been recording since I pressed the "record" button.

Now what really sickened me was what was happening in the cells. When I saw all shapes, sizes, and conditions of pokémon I literally meant that. The pokémon ranged from very large to very small species which many of them appearing to be awake, sedated, active, and mostly horrifically dying. Some species were even unidentifiable. Discoloring, dismembering, limbs placed where they don't belong, metallic devices jutting out of bodies, this lab had everything of harsh inhumane experimentation bringing several hard chills up my being. It was like they transformed their bodies and mutilated them to no end just to see what would happen. I clearly saw the pained expressions on their faces. I looked around and saw monitors showing pulses where I caught one that had a flat line.

"These are the best trials of experiments so far. You know all those other smaller buildings around the island we passed. Each cell here represents one building on the island. In those facilities are tests of pokémon being done, but they bring the best results here and do more note taking and shit."

"So, for example, that single box down there in front of me with the pichu inside," I pointed out, "Represents another facility on this island where they do the same exact test but on more pokémon."

"Yeah, each cell here is a different kind of experiment."

I was greatly offended further by the thought of more pokémon being experimented like this elsewhere on the island. "Why the hell is Team Rocket doing this for? Is this actually for science or is it because these guys were just born brain dead?"

"Shit, science…from what they've told me. Stuff like this is to see which pokémon can live the longest when a limb is severed, or which can live by itself seeing no other life form but itself before going crazy in solitary confinement, gene splicing, transplanting, man just about everything you can think of that's just fucked up. There's some crazy shit going on out here, which is why we're far out in the ocean so no one can report the bad side of this organization. Fucking Dr. Fuji, the asshole that ordered me to search for Mew, he does some twisted ass cloning experiments here. He tried to clone his dead daughter, and the clone died a few weeks ago along with his other subjects but he tried again. Now Giovanni wants him to clone Mew. Heh, good luck to that tauros shit," he sighed leaning against a wall as he just ranted about his duties.

"This organization has always been bad, but fucking the majority doesn't believe that thanks to the false media! Dialga, it's like a medical holocaust…" I turned around and walked out of that walkway clutching my abdomen.

"I told you it wasn't a good idea to bring you here when you have PTS, but you kept on insisting," he mocked.

I want to stop this. I want to but I don't have the power and equipment to do so! Stopping a rival drug lab is easy but stopping these strings of experiments isn't because of how worldwide Team Rocket is as they promote themselves towards the public showing that they're good people helping out pokémon. I can't do shit about it and it frustrates me so much!

"Okay, enough touring around, I've seen enough," I sighed.

"Sorry you saw that shit, but what the fuck is the big deal, really? I mean you get so pissed over this kind of shit? This happened to people before you know."

"What pisses me off is what you just fucking said!" I exploded then mocked, "'Oh, what the fuck is the big deal? They're just pokémon, who gives a fuck?' No, to hell with that! People like you just don't get it. What did these creatures ever do to us to deserve that?" I emphasized by pointing towards the room.

"My bad, shit…you are absolutely right, but remember this: we are the dominant species, if we were pokémon then none of shit would even matter to you. It sounds cold, but that's the truth, and you know that. So people just tend to not give a fuck about shit that's low and uncivilized." I just stood there still recovering from what I saw, but…I hate to admit but M-60 has grown more mature so he does have a dark point in this argument.

It was evening for sure now. I was standing in front of the door of the room where they actually took Mew out and placed on a medical bed. MP-5 was sitting on a chair at the corner of the hall far down from me. M-60 was inside actually sitting next to the bed like he was ordered to do. Jewel stood next to my foot still keeping watch while Fahrenheit was a little down the hall.

MP-5's ariados was guarding the middle section of the hallway near Fahrenheit, her shelgon was posted around the adjacent hallway, and her skorupi was next to her. M-60's "temporary" pokémon, an alakazam, was posted on the other side of Mew's bed. So we were mostly on top guard as instructed.

As I stood there I was in complete thought as I easily got bored of this guard duty tauros shit. Is there a way to get Mew out of here? Can I prevent Mew's torture? Can I get Mew out alive without getting killed in the process? I kept thinking of many ways to break the legend out of here but most of them sounded too simple or elaborate. Eventually I fell asleep against the wall from fatigue and frustration.

**(POV)**

"Jewel," I called to the alert espeon a little nervously as I left my post walking up to her.

"Yes, Fahrenheit?" she replied normally.

"Ah…" Shit, I can't get nervous like this. Damn it, it's the timing and situation right now but I just have to put in some kind of effort. "I'm sorry for trying to push you into…you know, mating with me," I apologized barely audible enough for her to hear from my anxiety, "I-I know it's not the best time but I just had to get that off my chest."

"It's okay, you don't have to apologize Fahrenheit," she smiled, "It was only natural of you; of us together. I know you still care about me, not only because I can read it, but also because you felt that you needed to apologize. You still like me a lot."

"That's what I mean, I don't mean to feel that towards you anymore and I don't want to push you into it," I concerned still worried that she lost interest in even being my friend.

"I know you don't, but no one can help their true emotions; just like how you can't help push back those thoughts about Celsius either," she continued smiling wider as she brought that up.

"Whoa, I don't appreciate how you read me that much, but I was raised long ago to not do polygamy. I don't think I'm that type of pokémon. I…I just want to really let you know that it is best that we start over as friends. I truly respect why you chose to do that and agree with you."

"Thank you, Fahrenheit, but don't be so nervous around me. No one knows how the future will turn out for our love lives. After all, I know you're worried about that since Rayn keeps pushing death into your head."

"…Damn it, I hate it when you do that," I flinched from her knowing my problem.

"I have great faith that we will all succeed obtaining vengeance safely. You shouldn't worry about that problem. We will all live afterwards." She then trotted over to me before nuzzling my thigh causing me to gasp at her affection but I quickly got on all fours and nuzzled her back as close friends. "And you never know, maybe all three of might have a great, destined connection later on… You, Celsius, and I," she reassured with a big smirk.

"Connection…connection as in what-"

"For now, let's worry about that later. We should help out M-14 free Mew since I can feel his energy devoting to that cause." I looked towards Master to see him trembling in full sweat as he leaned passed out against the wall.

**(POV)**

"Shit!" I gasped waking up and quickly springing away from my post moist in sweat. I immediately walked through the doors to Mew's medic room. Mew still had its torso restrained by metal clamps as it was sedated and sleeping. "M-60, I need to talk to you." I quickly scanned around and saw a camera focused on the medical bed from the corner of the room. I looked closely at the camera and didn't see any signs of microphones. I saw M-60 get up from lying against the side of the bed.

"What, we under attack?" he yawned drowsily.

"No but-"

"Then don't bother me, jackass!" he suddenly snapped before sitting his head back over his hands on his chair trying to get relaxed.

"No seriously, I need your help. Do you like working with Team Rocket or even care for them?"

"Pft, hell no. I can care less for these guys." He responded sitting forward now giving me his attention.

This actually caused me to smile. "Good, then can you help me get Mew out of here. I just had another nightmare and… Mew is not going to go through what I saw. Do you think it's possible?"

"I knew you'd eventually ask that," he smirked as he plopped his butt on the bed which got no response from Mew. "Yep, the Mew's out. Now, the grunts around here are pretty disorganized when scared shitless. There are actually more scientists and engineers on this island than grunts and only a few have enough balls to hold a gun, let alone shoot at a god. If you want to get Mew out of here then you're gonna have to scare this whole island. And it has to look like we didn't have any part in the escape but that's gonna be hard since there's a camera right there."

"That's fine. Jewel might be able to blind the camera with a Flash Attack." I quickly responded thinking of a solution.

"I know what you're thinking! Jewel can use Flash Attack to light the whole room blinding the camera. As she's using that attack for a few seconds, Fahrenheit will melt the restraints, you can grab Mew, stuff it in your coat concealing it and Jewel combined with Alakazam's power will blow this whole room apart using Psychic. I'll have Alakazam shoot a Psycho Cut into the ceiling so it'll look like Mew escaped through. This will give the camera an impression that the Mew woke up and attacked," he briefed.

"Wait… Wow. Are you absolutely sure this will work? This plan just sounds way, way too simple to be good. What if we're caught due to some kind of evidence?"

"Dude, we have two psychic pokémon and Mew's psychic. The head admin has been scared shitless from that Mew since I found it. Everyone here thinks it's powerful enough to escape. That's why we're on guard duty all the fucking time. Trust me I've been stuck in this shithole for months, I know what goes on when shit happens. Alakazam, ready?" Alakazam nodded snarling out his name loudly in triumph revolving his pair of spoons in between his fingers.

"Fahrenheit, Jewel, regroup behind the doorway!" I called.

"We've been listening, we're ready to go," Fahrenheit responded with a smile next to Jewel before overdramatically adding, "Let's save God!"

"Jewel, I need you to hold a great dose of your Flash attack for about ten seconds. Fahrenheit, you melt those restraints very carefully because you'll be blinded too, and then once we're clear out of the room you use Psychic with Alakazam, Jewel, to create a large mess around the room. Right now act casual." M-60 lied back in his chair and stretched out his arms as he appeared to be guarding lazily as usual.

Within moments this entire room suddenly went white as I completely lost my sense of vision from Jewel's Flash Attack. Acting off the plan I instantly walked forward and tried to feel around for a ball of short fur. I bumped the bed so I felt around the mattress, and once I felt a small form with very short hair as thin as skin I took hold of it but still felt resistance quickly releasing Mew so I didn't hurt it.

"Restraints have been melted, sir!" I heard Fahrenheit cry out seconds later.

I carried Mew off the bed then hid the small pokémon within my coat easily in a matter where no one could discover a lump as the pink pokémon was only a foot long and still unresponsive to my handling. I couldn't actually believe that I really touched, carried, and practically saved a religious icon with my own hands and with the help of my friends.

"Shit! M-60 to Admin 08, there has been a breach at Facility P-18! The Mew is out and possibly at large! Be on high alert for the Mew has escaped! I repeat Facility P-18 has been breached!" I heard M-60 yell getting his readings through my earpiece as he warned the whole island about "Mew Escaping".

I heard quick taps on the flooring since I still could barely see as I rushed down the hallway. "Shit, watch it M-14, what did you two do!" I heard MP-5 yell.

"Fuck- nothing. Get out there and look for that damn Mew!" M-60 acted out.

Minutes later us three assassins left the facility and walked out to an island of chaos. I saw many grunts and scientists running around in panic reporting to their assigned spots. Several growlithe were seen running around past the shrubbery probably trying to look for Mew as red strobe lights and sirens rang through out the island. It actually made me laugh that M-60 and I just cause this whole island to panic and become disorganized. The head admin quickly saw us and soon sprinted over to us.

"I want to know what the hell happened!" he demanded with a hard stern glare showing his pissed off mood.

"The Mew was awake the whole time! M-14 and I were blinded then we heard wreckage. Something crashed through the ceiling and I assumed it was the Mew," M-60 responded.

"You assumed? So you're uncertain Mew even escaped or not?" he responded with dominating intimidation.

"No sir, I heard its cries!" M-60 answered obediently as we all stood before the Admin awaiting further orders.

I watched as the admin began taking deep breaths as he paced back and forth in front of us. His face was actually redder then the strobe light sirens around the base. "Fuck!" he raged slamming his pistol on the ground. This caused me to beam real big as I saw him stomp on his hand gun over and over again while several grunts and vehicles moved through the paths behind him as everyone searched endlessly for Mew while we got away safely along with Mew who was still in my coat.

The next day MP-5 and I reported at the Don's office after flying back in the same VTOL that took us to the sea convoy. We both walked through the purple drapes where we saw the Don relaxing in his comfy office chair.

"Welcome back, M-14, MP-5. Were they satisfied with our services?" he asked coolly while lighting a cigar.

"Not so perfect but they were satisfied with the primary assignment at hand, sir," MP-5 answered.

"So I heard. The appreciative message from Giovanni brings me happiness. Good work, now leave," he concluded as he took a puff of his cigar.

As I walked down the hallway I knew I had a reason to smile now. Only M-60 and I knew that through out the entire flight back to the mansion Mew was tucked in my tactical supplies pack. If saving a legendary religious icon from some greedy villains is not a good enough deed then I don't know what is. Now all I have to do is monitor Mew until the sedative wears off which really feels like a great honor that Arceus himself bestowed upon me; except that's probably TS since my soul is tainted and this is all just right timing and placing.

As I walked in through the door I immediately gave Celsius a great embrace swaying her side to side playfully and proceeded to Crecstine and gave her a warm hug too to which she actually gasped from since I've never given her one before but my great mood couldn't help that. I then let out Fahrenheit and Jewel for the first time in hours.

"Thank you, Jewel, for doing that diversion back there. I can't believe it actually worked," I celebrated.

"No problem, we should do that again some time," she smirked and even winked at Fahrenheit who seemed to have raised an eyebrow at her as she left my suite.

As I locked the suite door after Jewel walked out Celsius brought up a good question. "What exactly did you three do? And why are you smiling so big and in such a super happy mood?"

"Oh we did something big. I'm getting good karma for life now," Fahrenheit gloated.

"Watch this, and please don't… freak." I walked over to my bed placing my weapons and pack on my comforter. Then I opened up my pack to carefully pull out a slender fuzz ball who was still easy to manage as the sedative was still in place. I gently placed Mew on my bed comfortably on my pillows. Celsius' beak hung as much as it physically could completely frozen in place as Crecstine was just completely unmoving only with her eyes gaping. "This was the assignment. I had to escort the package, and Mew was the package. I couldn't believe they labeled Mew a package let alone find out we were guarding a Mew the whole time six days in to the assignment. Arceus, I knew Mew existed! I just never thought I would see one, but those bastards wanted Mew because they wanted to experiment and extract its DNA to clone something out of it."

"Holy Dialga, this is just crazy beyond anything we've ever dealt with before Master, and we've seen some crazy shit! So-so your assignment was failed since Mew's here?" Celsius inquired a little nervously mixed with shock.

"No, they got what they wanted which was the DNA, so I just snuck Mew out as M-60 and I guarded it which caused the whole island to panic."

"I just can't believe…that you were able to pull that off-how lucky we are to…" Celsius muttered almost inaudibly as Crecstine spoke where I looked at Fahrenheit to translate.

"She says she thought there was no Mew or Arceus and that seeing Mew is greatly overwhelming but in a good way." Crecstine then spoke again. "We just saved a god."

"I did it so I could get Mew away from Team Rocket. If it stayed then it would've went through hell until it died. Team Rocket are full of bad people who do experiments on pokémon using mutilation techniques that cause pokémon extreme pain. I saw it all for myself and it made me sick. I just couldn't stand there and let Mew become another brutal trial and error."

"So Team Rocket are also just like slavers?" Fahrenheit translated after she spoke.

"Actually, yes, their methods are about the same…But then again I would risk my life to save any pokémon no matter the situation. Like I said, I admire pokémon so much that I can't even witness one being harmed by someone else unless if it was a legal sporting event that was under control. But Team Rocket…Arceus the stuff they were doing at the lab was just horrific I don't know how those scientists can handle doing that, and I have a recording to prove it," I explained sadly pointing to my left forearm where the ENA was, "Hell, I even hate referring a pokémon as a 'it' since I believe they are as equal as I am, but I don't even know what gender Mew is, and freakin' I referred Mew to that term countless times already. Do legends even have genders, and can they even breed?"

"Yep and yep," Fahrenheit answered as I viewed him lifting one of Mew's large legs up which was completely appalling even causing me to gasp as he actually drew his head close to a god's privates, "This one's a girl, so my guess is there could be more than one Mew in the world maybe... otherwise why would a divinity be born with a vagina?" he snickered.

"Fahrenheit! You're going to Distortion World! I can't believe you actually had the balls to do that, you pervert!" Celsius scolded.

"What? Doctors and vets do it," he responded sounding innocent.

I could only look at Mew who was still sleeping on my bed looking very tranquil. "I'm going to grab a couple comforters and pillows from storage and make a bed for her in your guys' room. I don't know how long she'll be out, so during training one of you will have to stay here and check on her condition for now on until she wakes."

"Use Quick Attack on your target!" I ordered Crecstine.

An hour in training out in the wide open property, she began her attack with quick in quick, wide zig-zag patterned pounces towards the targeted oak tree. Her pattern advanced until she was in range pouncing for the tree and scaring the trunk with her claws. She "zig zaged" back away from the tree which in a real scenario would have her dodging other attacks, or bullets, then sprinted towards the tree and struck it again with her horn this time delivering a longer, deeper mark which is the finishing blow to an opponent. I smiled as she went back into position. Two weeks in and she's doing this faster and more coordinated than before showing amazing progress.. She started in a wide zig zag motion again towards the tree, but then I heard her cry out loudly and saw her roll out from loss of control.

I quickly ran up to her once she stopped rolling and called for Fahrenheit who was training nearby. "Are you okay, did you get hurt?" I worried. She tried standing up on all her legs but then gave way to her left front and yelped out loudly in pain. I caught her then laid her down, but she began resisting me with a lot of force causing me to back away as Fahrenheit translated her yells.

"She's frustrated. She wants you to let her continue with only three legs," he translated.

"No, you pushed yourself too hard and sprained your leg." After I said that I saw her reply with what sounded like her cries being quick and forceful in aggression.

"I'm not weak, I can go on. If I want to learn how to lead then I have to get stronger." she started flailing around but I held her down along with Fahrenheit as she kept yelling. "If I want to learn how to protect others than I have to keep fighting through," he finished.

"If you're going to become a leader then you have to learn when it's right to stop and in some cases fall back!" I told her which actually caused her to stop fighting me, "If you kept fighting with this injury you would've died, so instead you have to get by me so I could quickly heal you or call you back so you can fight another day. If you're thinking of leading a team you would have to make those kinds of choices." I took out some medical supplies and got to work as she responded with a softer tone this time.

"But if I want to lead a team then I can't just get injured from bad foot work. We've been out here practicing Quick Attack for two weeks and I'm still getting hurt. That's horrible."

"Let me tell you something. When I went through training here I accidently shot myself once and had several close calls trying to perform the way they wanted me to. Celsius knotted her knee a few times from Blaze Kick and she's been doing that attack for four months now which is still a small amount of time. As a matter of fact you're actually amazing that you got this attack that quick. That just shows that this training is working. So you sprained a leg from bad foot work. That's why we come out here to improve that," I concluded finishing the last steps on her leg.

Crecstine had head down the whole time as I lectured her. While wrapping up her leg I saw she was in thought the whole time. Then suddenly she snarled before flicking her head to the side in what looked like agitation which resulted in an illuminated scythe shaped pocket of air being launched from her scythe horn towards the tree trunk which blasted that tree a foot in deep sending splinters around us. I was completely stunned that she had just pulled that off. I looked at her with bewildered eyes where I saw she had a surprised expression too.

"See what Master means!" Fahrenheit beamed with enthusiasm, "We're out here to train and that was your first ever Razor Wind you just pulled off so it's working really fast, it's only been three weeks!" The absol then began speaking again as I smiled looking at the work she just did on the tree. "She says thank you to us," Fahrenheit chuckled with optimism, "And she didn't mean to do that in frustration towards you. She was just mad at herself for not ever thinking about what you told her."

"Don't get mad at yourself. It's a slow learning process that even I haven't mastered yet," I smiled petting her as I finished wrapping her leg up with braces so she could heal up. I swear, each day I see more progression in her skills and our bond.

"Master!" I heard Celsius call out from a distance as I saw her sprinting towards us. She quickly approached us panting and looking troubled as I stood up wondering what the problem was. "She's gone!" she panted while recovering from her fast sprint.

"Mew?" I hypothesized with worry.

"Yeah, sh-she…I walked into my room to check on her and she was still sleeping, but then I turned to get something from my bed, turned back, and she was gone! No sound or anything. The blankets covering her were still there and even falling into her form!" she panicked.

"Okay, relax Celsius…This is actually a good thing because she probably recovered and who knows…could've teleported," I theorized trying to sound positive but I was still a little hurt to hear that Mew just vanished from us in an instant when I wanted to see her awake, "Besides, I was getting worried that something was wrong because it's been two weeks. That's a long coma. Did Jewel ever tell M-4 about her?"

"No, he still doesn't know," she breathed now calming down about the realization.

"Heh, I guess its better that way. It's better if she's free. Anyways, let's go inside and-"

"Mike-Four to Mike-One-Four, I need packaging at the armory," my earpiece sounded hearing M-4 speak through.

"Roger, on my way," I responded, "Great…so much happening right now. Okay you guys ahead and get something to eat and rest."

Minutes after his call I approached the armory building to find that M-4 wasn't around; no one was even around which was odd since we normally have sentries around all structures of the property. I looked at my phone and I had no heat signatures in the building or behind it. "Yo M-14, overhear in the forest!" I heard M-4 call out from within the trees surrounding the building.

I walked through the trees trying to locate him in the forest while wondering why in the hell he would be in there. "Dude…where are you, don't piss me off!" I called.

Getting worried as I went in deeper into the forest, I pulled out a Mark V from my holster in case this property actually got infiltrated, which is highly unlikely. Knowing I have armor underneath my casual clothing I was fine but I still kept my gun drawn out gripping it with both hands at waist level. Just as I advanced deeper through I began feeling the psychic intensity in my head from Jewel's powers so I was getting close.

"Surprise!" I heard a cry from behind me before I was suddenly pushed towards a tree. Before I could even react I felt someone grasp my shoulders forcefully turning me around before getting securely squeezed against a great, tall, beige figure by red and grey arms.

"Celsius… what the hell!" I gasped for air as I found myself getting smothered by a great, tight hug, "What's the deal…you're supposed to be inside!" As I tried to face up to her I found that my head was in between and pressed against her fully matured breasts! I felt the large, feathery mounds push my cheeks in getting me wide eyed about the discovery. I tried to push away in order to get away from her private spot and intake some air but she was too strong for me as she kept me in her hug. As I felt her hand push the back of my head against her chest I actually lost control of my will power to push away getting caught within the air around her breast which smelled oddly…good! I know she has good hygiene but I guess thanks to M-4's advice he gave me about porn long ago I was always curious about what boobs were like…and Celsius are just as human only covered in red feathers, right! The feeling of her soft feathers brushing against me involuntarily got my eyes to roll back into my sockets where I tried to push her away to fight these thoughts, but even as I tried to push I only took in the soft touch of her cozy feathers around her wide hips.

"I just wanted to give the best Master in the world a hug, that's all! I love you!" I heard her squeak with her cries.

"Ok…please put me down!" I panted feeling my legs flailing in thin air behind me as she swung me side to side with her body where I tried desperately to fight these crazy thoughts about her. Next thing I knew she placed me back down against the tree. "Okay thank you, now have you've…" I lost my words as I saw her bright blue, reflective eyes gaze oddly into mines with her beak carving a small open mouth smirk as she seemed to crane her head closer to mine now pinning me nervously against the tree, "…seen M-4 around here…b-because I can feel Jewel's energy…I-I'm sure they were involved in your 'surprise'," I stuttered for some unknown reason as I found myself lowering in front of her like as if she was about to do something unknown to me. I couldn't help but look down her chest a bit now having the full realization hit me that I just got smothered by boobs…only they were from pokémon…and I liked it! What the fuck no…this can't be! I looked down her form staring at the curvy hips I was trying to push away that reminded me of more porn images of women except Celsius was red and covered in warm feathers. Comparing her figure to women only get my cheeks to warm up greatly.

"Oh sorry Master, must be my energy," she giggled as she stepped back away from me.

"Your energy? You're not psychic-" suddenly I saw her form get taken by a bright white color of light almost like as if she was evolving. Quickly getting serious again and thinking that this must be an imposter pokémon, possibly an enemy ditto, I quickly brought my pistol up to the changing form. Knowing I wasn't going to shoot, I just held my gun as I had my finger up to my earpiece ready to call for assistance. Moments later the form changed into a floating, small creature.

"Hello Rayn." A feminine tone echoed in my head. Through my iron sight the white coloration disappeared fading into a pink color of short fur covering the new form with small triangular ears, big hind legs with small forearms, and a long winding tail. I halted in place from the confounding image of Mew floating in place before me. I felt the weight of my pistol slip off my hands as my heart rate quickened from the legendary hovering before me. "Rare…isn't it Rayn," the pink, little pokémon spoke using telepathy with a captivating, echoing tone as she then begun to giggle a bit which didn't deter from her mystical appearance.

"You must be a ditto with some crazy ass skill…" I saw her shake her head giggling more at my response, "Oh Arceus, it is you! Y-you're talking to me…shoot I-I-I didn't mean to say his name in vain!" I quickly stuttered letting my arms fall limp where much of my body was about to follow..

"Relax, Rayn," she actually soothed hovering closer to me like a slender dragon in flight, "This is truly amazing, I have to agree. I never saw that of all people you'd rescue me; and this soon too."

"Oh…of all people huh," I spoke very nervously lowering my gaze waiting for bad news, "You're saying someone as low and corrupt as me doesn't deserve to save you."

"Nope…vice versa actually, to an extent of course," she smiled circling around me as I watched her movements.

"Vice Versa? What do you mean, you're a legend!" I asked getting very confused, "If my vocabulary is right you're saying you're not w-worthy of being saved by me! How am I very worthy?"

"Aw don't worry about that. It's pretty fun playing with you, you're actually pretty fun to tease," she seemed to giggle as she looped in her hover shocking me as I'm witnessing Mew in a happy mood.

"You…p-playing with me? I thought mystical pokémon like you only approach ones with a pure heart. You're so playful around me but… Me…I'm only full of hatred for my enemies…"

"Your heart is genuinely pure and you're in no position to judge yourself as a matter of fact," she waved a digit at me while shaking her head giggling further, "You care for your pokémon and friends with so much passion it compensates your hatred you have towards an organization that got you in your present position. That amusing display your eyes gave the image of your best pokémon only proved it further."

I only looked at her closely trying to interpret her words. "…Oh no, please don't tell me…those hidden thoughts I have about…"

"Oh what, about how hot you really think Celsius the blaziken is even though you're human?" she casually answered as she groomed her forepaw.

"Yeah, am-am I going to hell for that? These thoughts are just so forbidden its crazy why I have them," I weakly uttered almost collapsing in tears that I was asking a mythical my pokémon what my fate could be.

"Rayn, Rayn, Rayn," she sighed in a sing-song tone, "Soon, you shall know that those thoughts are only exceptional signs about the meaning of existing for all sentient beings."

"I will cease to exist if I get stoned for my thoughts! The only soon I'm getting is dying," I almost cried at her getting really confused about these basically unholy thoughts.

"No, your great passion you have for deserving others may lead a great cause. It's amazing potential indeed."

"Man-Mew… it's really amazingly flattering of you to tell me that, being the position I'm in right now," I tanked wiping a few tears from my eyes almost feeling relieved, "Exactly why did you choose to morph into Celsius?"

"I actually don't even know myself. I guess her deep emotions mended with my energy as I stayed in her room," she chuckled.

"Her emotions? What you just did to me-"

"Anyways, I just completely distracted myself oh silly me, I seem to have gotten enough rest during my sleep. That sedative got me very fatigued."

"Yes, I was getting very worried about you. Oh man, this is so awesome that I saved you and am talking to you right now actually!"

"And you have a lot of questions to ask I see," she spoke hovering close to me as I surveyed her form still astounded from this scene, "Wow, saved by the very person I'm guiding."

"G-guiding, what do you mean?" I asked feeling a chill run up my back from getting so overwhelmed, "You must guide all then…right?"

"No…just you and I'm told to put my energy only towards you. If you have noticed lately, mentally you've been traumatized by your recent 'crimes'," she told getting me really frightened that she might've decided my fate in the afterlife, "Those thought, visions, and all your trauma typically are supposed to be suppressed by me. However, I was put into unconsciousness for a long time until you freed me. I guide you, Rayn."

"…Y…you guide me," I uttered, "But…why me? What's so special about me? You were chosen…This doesn't make a lot of sense!" I kept going and going about these questions finally growing so overwhelmed that I lost all control of my movements feeling my body about to collapse and faint. However, with my vision barely at work I saw her hit me with some kind of violet beam that quickly woke me up and got me to catch myself from the fall.

"You see? I am your guide Rayn, so that you never pass out during times like this and lose your sanity in what you do. You've never had collapsed mentally before and I'm not going to let that happen. I was told that your soul needed me."

"Who told you, and why does my soul need that?"

"I am not the only mew in this world Rayn, but not many people that walk this planet have that gift because those that get this gift definitely need it not just for the individual but for the good of all…you need it. I was told by my superiors to help you and I gladly accepted."

"Oh my…goodness…So Arceus does exist. But there are so many religions! Which is the right one? Wait- Why do I need you?"

"Rayn, religion is mainly what humans need to find the meaning of life and it all originated from us at different parts of the world at different times because we all appear without warning or lend a helping paw."

"But why was I chosen to be guided by you and be told these things by you-"

"There is no point in mortals existing if no one can exert their creativity to discover. I can't just answer all of your questions otherwise you mortals would be bored and it would all be my fault," she smiled.

"Please, I must know! At least answer why I have aura," I pleaded.

"Let me tell you this before I leave. Use your alternate senses to discover the real answers for yourself. Soon you will know what I mean. The next chapter about your life will reveal it for something big is going to happen to you through a great jump. Your nightmares are over now."

"Mike-One-Four," I heard through my earpiece, "This is Livius. I need you to see me for something very important. Come see me at my study immediately."

"Roger, I'll be there shortly," I sighed. Livius… I haven't seen him in a while.

"I advise you do go see him for your story to progress through our records, Rayn. Thank you again for saving me. I must keep moving now in order to build energy," she concluded as she began waving at me before hovering higher.

"Wait bu-"

"Don't worry, I'll be in touch. I'm not alone either. There are more of the divine willing to help you. Good bye, Rayn Excal, and good luck on your journey."

"Wait!" I saw Mew float past the canopy before immediately shooting away towards the sky at an indescribable speed with a little sparkle glimmering far into the sky showing her disappearance. "Damn, so many questions left half answered…"

"In due time, Rayn. In due time. First you must learn the basics, and I will absolutely guide you. Now go see Livius," Mew's voice rang.

I left the forest proceeding towards the study still shocked from that encounter. "Well…like she told me. I guess it's on to my next chapter."

To Be Continued

F-117 Night Staraptor= F-117 Nighthawk


End file.
